Jar of Hearts
by AlexMontgomery
Summary: Aether wants more than anything to be treated like Terra and Aqua's equal. Being told one too many times to sit and wait, she runs off after Ven on her own adventure. But a form-changing figure, and a boy in a mask threaten to stir things up and shatter Aether's perspective of her friends. Slight Terra/OC, Aqua/Ven Rated-T
1. Chapter One

**Authors Note:** I cannot tell you how please I am to be starting a new Door to Series installment. This one may or may not go by pretty fast, given I've already written it once. We'll see. I can definitely tell the first couple chapters will, anyway.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything relation to Kingdom Hearts or the Walt Disney Corporation. Only Aether, and anything else unfamiliar with the series.

* * *

**Chapter One  
****Unbreakable Connection**

_Destiny is never left to chance._

There was no doubt that various worlds had their own rich history. The Land of Departure was anything but the exception. This was where young people, seeking to protect the light, and keep balance too the World train.

However, everyone needed their sleep. Would-be heroes were no acceptation. She was face down in her bed, snoring. She was still dressed, excluding her boots. Her tomato red hair was fanned out around, a little messed up. All in all, she was exhausted that day.

The grunting and shouting from outside woke her up. Her eyes were a bit puffy, and out of focus. Rubbing them for a few minutes, she looked out her window to the training grounds. A blonde boy with a side-sweep style was thrashing away at the target's with his Keyblade. "Ven…" she muttered, still groggy. "It's too earlier for this…"

She was about to return to sleep when something in the sky caught her eye. Stream's of light tore through the air. Suddenly, Aether was wide awake. There was a meteor shower. So that's why Ven was out so late.

Quickly, Aether slipped on her metallic yellow armored boots. She hurried to her mirror and tied a layer of red hair into a pair of pigtails on the side of her head with a couple of bandanas, like she almost always did.

She had on a mustard yellow turtle neck as her undershirt, and a yellow hooded shirt that hung partway down her thighs. Over the second shirt, she had on a short-sleeved jacket that only covered her chest. Her pants mirrored the color of her shirts. The two intersecting belts across her chest, bearing the silver crest, marking her as an apprentice Keyblade wielder. Finish off the outfit was the bit of metallic yellow armor strapped onto her left arm.

Aether had been told, many times that she looked like her late mother, Master Aura, but she honestly didn't see it. She had Aura's red hair, green eyes, jaw line and nose, but it seemed like everything else was Master Eraqus, her father. Aether always just assumed it was because people saw the red hair first whenever they said that.

Satisfied, Aether snuck through the castle halls, and out to the courtyard. By the time she made it to the training grounds, but Ventus was already gone. "Where'd he go?" she wondered, crossing her arms over her chest.

She looked back at the sky, she could scarcely see the stars, or meteors falling in the sky. Oh, okay. Ven had to have gone farther across the property, where it wasn't lit up as much.

Aether ran for a cliff side, it was the farthest area on castle grounds, and the least lit. She didn't doubt Ven was there.

Ventus, usually preferring to go by 'Ven,' was about the same age as Aether. So, when he first came to the Land of Departure about four years ago, she was a little happy to train with someone closer to her age. The other two were old enough to be called young adults. The thing was, Ven arrived after an accident which resulted in his lost of memory. That's what Ven's former Master said.

While he had gotten better with time, and practice, Ven was really easy to give up and cry when he first arrived. It was something that was a bit of a put out for her. But, as mentioned, Ven got better. He did not cry as much as he did before, but he still remained soft-spoken. He ended up being one of her best friends.

She found Ven laying down at the cliff looking up at the stars. "Why does this seem so familiar?" she heard him wonder out loud.

"What does?" Aether asked, sitting down beside him.

"Hey," the blonde greeted. "I didn't hear you…"

"Funny, because I did. While I was sleeping."

"Sorry…"

The two sat there in silence for a while. Aether was pretty sure Ven had, or was about to doze off. The guy could sleep anywhere if given the chance. But, she couldn't judge, Aether was not that far behind him. She closed her eyes, and slowly fell onto her back to get more comfortable. She didn't fall asleep, but she was enjoying the silence, and cool night air.

After a little while, she heard Ven sit up, yawn, then fall onto his backs moments after. "Whoa!" he gasped.

Aether opened her eyes to find an older blue-haired girl, about seventeen, leaning over them, smiling. With a sigh, Aether sat up and turned herself around to face her. "Gimme a break, Aqua," said Ven.

"Ven, you hopeless sleepyhead," laughed Aqua. "You know, you should have at least brought a blanket."

"Ha-ha!" Aether laughed, pointing at the blonde boy.

"And you," Aqua said in a similar tone. "You're no better than he is."

"I wasn't sleeping though!" She crossed her arms over her chest. "I just had my eyes closed for a minute."

"Yeah, right," Ven argued. His smile disappeared, his thoughts wandering. "Did I dream that place up? It really felt like I'd been there before… looking up at the stars…"

Laughing, Aqua tussled Ven's hair. "'Cept you've always lived here with us," she said.

"Yeah… I know."

Aether kept her eyes focused on a random area of the lawn. What Aqua said bothered her. Because it wasn't true. The Master didn't want them talking about Ven's life before coming to the castle. Not that it was hard, it was painfully easy as Ven was never really bothered by his memory loss. He just accepted what was told to him. Still though…

It wasn't like she did not know the reason for keeping him in the dark. Their first meeting was more than enough evidence that it was probably a good idea _not_ to mention his past.

Within moment's they sat at the very edge of the cliff, with a better look at the stars. Aether vaguely wondered what Aqua was doing up this late. As much as a perfectionist she could be, she hardly stayed up training at these ungodly hours. "Hey, Aqua," Ven spoke up, breaking the silence. "Y'ever wonder what the stars are? Where the light come's from?"

"Well," Aqua said thoughtfully. "They say-"

"That every star up there is another world," a male voice said from behind them.

Turning around they found a brown haired young man, walking up to them. "Terra," Aether said, suddenly feeling a little flustered.

"Yep," Terra continued. "Hard to believe there are so many worlds beside our own. The light is their hearts, and it's shining down on us like a million lanterns."

"What?" Ven asked, confusion written all over his face. "I don't get it."

"In other worlds their just like you, Ven."

"What does _that_ mean?"

"You'll find out someday, I'm sure."

"I want to know now!"

"You're too young to know now!"

"Quit treating me like a kid!"

Aether leaned over and whispered something to Aqua, which sent both girl's into a fit of giggles. "And what are you two laughing at?" Terra asked, staring at the two.

"Nothing," Aether replied innocently.

"Just that you two would make the weirdest brothers," said Aqua.

"Huh?" Ven and Terra said in unison, exchanging looks with each other.

"Case and point," shrugged Aether.

* * *

The meteor showered had stopped a while ago. But the sky was especially clear that night, perfect for star gazing. Aether decided that they didn't do this nearly enough. Then again, with the Master working them on a daily basis, they didn't have the energy to. "Oh, yeah," Aqua gasped, braking the silence. She stood up. "Terra, you and I have our Mark of Mastery exams tomorrow."

She reached behind her and pulled out four brown cords, two in each hand. At the end of the cords were star-shaped charms, they looked like they were made out of stain glass. Each was in a different color, blue, orange, green, and yellow. "I made us good luck charms," Aqua explained.

She tossed the orange one to Terra, the green one to Ven, and the yellow one to Aether, keeping the blue one for herself. "Us too?" Ven asked, exchanging looks with Aether.

"Of course," said Aqua. The four of them held out their hands with their charm's in front of them. "One for each of us."

Aether held hers up, studying it. That was when she noticed the castles insignia in the center, as though binding the whole thing together. "You know," she said. "You could probably get a bit of munny for these if you wanted to sell them."

Aqua shook her head. "These were hard enough to make as it was," she explained. "You know, somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit. And the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other."

"But do they actually work?" asked Aether.

"Well, _technically_, I think you're supposed to make them with seashells, but I did the best with what I had."

"Oi," Terra breathed out. "Sometimes you are such a girl."

"What do you mean 'sometimes?'"

"I think they're cool," said Aether.

"And you're no better," Terra added.

"And I wonder why that is. Can't be because Aqua and I _are _girls."

"Is that why you're chest hasn't developed yet?"

"Hey!" Aether snapped. Her face was beginning to turn beat red. So she was a late bloomer, that wasn't her fault.

"Terra," Aqua scoffed, pulling the younger girl into a one-armed hug. "Don't tease her like that."

"She knows I didn't mean anything by it," Terra said, tussling her hair.

There was a look of disappointment on her face. All these years, and Terra still saw her as a little kid. Not his equal.

Aether was born and raised in the Land of Departure. She practically spent her life training to be a Keyblade Master. Next to Terra, Aether had the most seniority amongst the apprentices. But, she wouldn't be taking part in the exam tomorrow. The Master said it was because she was 'too young.' The sensible part of Aether said he was right, but the stronger, embittered part of her said it was because someone didn't want to let Aether grow up.

"So these aren't real good luck charms?" Ven asked, staring down at his own charm, disappointed.

"Well," Aqua began. "That's yet to be seen. But I did work a little magic on them."

"Really? What?"

Aqua held up her Wayfinder with a bright smile on her face. "An unbreakable connection."

* * *

Aether cupped her hand over her mouth as she yawned. She and Ven spent the past hour or so helping Terra and Aqua brush up on their skills for tomorrows exam. It had to be early morning by now. Why didn't Aether check the time before going outside?

She looked down at the yellow star charm in her hand. _'Together… always.'_

"Hey!" Terra called, getting her attention. "We're gonna head back."

"Coming," Aether said, breaking out into a half-jog.

_That would be the last night we ever spent beneath the same stars._


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two  
****Mark of Mastery**

Aether stifled a yawn, she hated waiting like this. She stood beside Ven in the Throne Room. She spotted Ven eyeing Master Xehanort with a keen interest. Like he thought he had seen him from somewhere, but couldn't think of when or where.

Aether was a bit familiar with Master Xehanort. He was a fellow apprentice with Eraqus and Aura, so they went pretty far back. After earning their own mark of Mastery, Xehanort made the choice of traveling the worlds to expand his horizon, while Eraqus and Aura decided to stay to train a new generations. If Aether understood correctly, Master Xehanort delved into Keyblade lore. She wasn't sure what that meant, but it sounded kind of cool.

The only reason she was here was for Terra and Aqua. Both kids were kind of lucky that the Master thought witnessing this might be a good learning experience for them. Aether failed to see how she could learn anything from this, which probably said she shouldn't take on apprentices when her time came.

At long last Master Eraqus stood up and studied the two would-be Master's. Aether _probably_ should have stood up straight, especially since they had a guest, but she was still angry. She should have been up there with Terra and Aqua. She should be working for her own title of Master.

"Today you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery," Master Eraqus explained. "Not one, but two of the Keyblade's chosen stand here as candidate. But this is neither a competition or battle for I'm sure our guest, Master Xehanort did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospects in years fall short on the mark. I trust you are ready."

Both Terra and Aqua gave their response; yes. Eraqus then took out his own Keyblade, pointing it skyward. Around the room five balls of light hovered a few inches above the floor. "Then let the examination begin."

The two candidates readied themselves when the ball's suddenly gave off a dark hue. This took them, and the Master, by surprise. Terra and Aqua called out Ven's name as one of the orb's bounced itself to the younger apprentices. Aether got down into a fighting stance, ready to summoned her own Keyblade Ven's Wayward Wind slashed through the oncoming orb.

"You always gotta show me up?" Aether groaned.

"Don't worry about us," Ven reassured them, ignoring Aether's comment. "You two

focus on the exam."

"But Ven," Aqua argued. "You and Aether are in danger here. Go wait in you're rooms!"

Getting increasingly irritated Aether summoned her own Keyblade, Arioso. It's shaft was blue-grey, leading to the teeth, which looked like a gust of air. In between it's light green handle was a dark grey eighth note. White bird feathers acted as the guard, and from it's chain hung a G-clef token.

"We can handle it!" she snapped angrily.

'_Stop treating me like a kid!' _she added silently.

"They can take care of themselves," Terra reassured Aqua. "They've been out there training as hard as we have."

Begrudgingly, Aqua nodded in agreement. "Stay sharp, you two," she advised before jumping back into action.

When the last of the orbs were vanquished, Eraqus seemed to be at a lost for words, given what happened. "That was… unexpected… but one must keep a still heart even in the most trying of circumstances. It was an excellent test, one I will not let unfold. This brings us to our next trial."

* * *

At a steady pace Terra and Aqua approached each other, their Keyblades, Earth Shaker and Rainfell respectively, in their hands. "Now, Terra and Aqua," Eraqus began. "The two of you will face each other in combat. Remember, there are no winners - only truths, for when equal powers clash, their nature is reviled."

Terra and Aqua flashed each other a quick glance before they got into their own fighting stance. "Begin!"

Aether kept her back against the wall. Again, she probably should have been on her best behavior for their guest at least.

She noticed that Aqua had the upper hand when she nearly stabbed Terra in the face. Terra backed up, surprised, and inhaled. His left hand twitched slightly, he noticed the darkness radiating from it, much to his surprise. The darkness vanished as quickly as it came with a shake of the hand.

Aether was happy about that. It didn't last long, so that should be the end of that. Growing up with Terra, she knew that things got really bad when you pushed the wrong button. She thought it might have been because of the brutal way he lost his parents as a boy, but because it was a touchy subject, Aether never pressed the subject.

When the battle ended, Terra and Aqua stood in front of the two Masters, now waiting for the result. "We have a deliberated decision," said Master Eraqus. "Terra, Aqua, you both preformed commendably. However, only Aqua has shown the Mark of Mastery. Terra, you failed to keep the darkness in you sufficiently in check. But, there is always next time. That is all."

Silently, Xehanort decided to take this moment to make his leave, leaving Eraqus alone with his student and the new Master. "Aqua," said Eraqus. "As your newest Keyblade Master, you are entitle to certain knowledge. Please wait here for further instruction."

As the Master walked, Aether and Ven rushed up to their friend. Terra had his back turned to them. "Hey…" Aqua said slowly.

"Terra…" Aether said. Though she was at a lost for words.

"Terra," Ven said through a strained voice. Even he didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry."

"The darkness," the brunette said, staring at the floor. "Where did it come from?"

* * *

"I don't understand!" Aether snapped. "You said Terra preformed great! What happened was a fluke. It didn't last that long."

"Aether, it shouldn't have happened in the first place," Eraqus said. "You need to understand the damage darkness can, and has done."

"But Terra took control of it!" Aether argued.

"Aether," her father sighed. Get an idea in this girl's head and it took forever to get her to change her mind. "There is more to being a Keyblade Master than using the Keyblade."

"I fail to see how," Aether shot back.

"Which is why you don't understand the reason behind our decision. And that is why you will not be trying for the Mark of Mastery anytime soon."

"So, in other words Terra and I are being babied," she growled.

"Aether, that is not what I said."

The girl wasn't about to hear anymore. She turned on her heel and stormed off, muttering furiously under her breath. What was he going to do with that girl?

Aether tossed a rubber ball against her wall, caught it, then repeated the processes. She didn't understand him sometimes. It didn't make sense to her. Terra had just as much skill as the Master. He was the most experienced out of the apprentices. Why didn't Terra qualify? Then again, why didn't she?

"'More to being a Master than using a Keyblade,'" Aether repeated, mocking her father. She hurled the ball at the wall. "Isn't that why it's called a _Keyblade_ Master?"

The loud, echoing bell suddenly went off. It startled Aether to the point where she almost jumped up. She sprinted out of her room, down the many halls, and into the throne room, where Terra and Aqua were already waiting. "What's going on?" she asked, sliding to a stop.

"I don't know," Aqua said in a hushed tone. "Why isn't Ven here?"

The Master stood with his back to the three. He seemed to be in a conversation with someone through magic. "Very well then," Eraqus said to the person. "I will send my pupils to investigate… Yes, I understand… Farewell."

When the Master turned back, the three stood straight. He made his way down the steps, and left the throne room without another word. "That was my dear old friend, Yen Sid," Eraqus explained. "As you know, he is a Master no more. But he still keeps a close eye on the tides of light and darkness. His counsel serves as a signpost on the road we wielders of the Keyblade must walk."

Aether only met Yen Sid once. If she remembered correctly, he was fellow apprentice with Eraqus' Master. These day's Yen Sid studied in magic. "All the more reason, then, for concern," Eraqus continued. "For he tells me the Princesses of Heart are in danger. Not only from the forces of darkness as you may assume… but also from a new threat - one that feed's on negativity.

"Fledgling emotions that have taken monster form - Yen Sid calls them the 'Unversed.' As wielders of the Keyblade, you are tasked with striking down any who would upset the balance of light and darkness. The Unversed are no acceptation. I tried to pass this news on to Master Xehanort, but my repeated attempts to reach him have failed. I doubt there is any connection, and yet… This all troubles me."

"Master Xehanort is gone?" Terra asked.

The Master nodded. "So here we are. I need you two to get this situation under control. Eliminate the Unversed and find Master Xehanort."

Wait. 'You _two_?' So, then… No… No! He wasn't about to do this to her!

"I have unlocked the Lanes Between," Eraqus went on. "You may use these forbidden pathways to travel between this world and countless others. The darkness looms closer than usual within these spaces, but your armor will protect you. Lastly, remember that order must be kept. You cannot tell anyone there are other worlds. Now go, and fulfill your duty."

"Yes, Master," Terra and Aqua said. But Aether was fuming. He was really going to do it, wasn't he?

"Terra," the Master said as he walked off. "Consider this an opportunity. A second chance for you to change my mind."

"What?" a stunned Terra asked.

"You must know, I care for you like my own son. If I could have it my way, I would name you Master in a second. But, how can I, when you're so obsessed with power? Terra, you mustn't be afraid of losing. Fear leads to an obsession with power, and obsession beckons darkness," he paused to place an arm on Terra's shoulder. "You must never forget."

"Thank you, Master," Terra said, bowing his head. "I swear… I will not fail you again."

Without another word he took off running out the door. Aether didn't doubt the first part of Eraqus' speech to Terra. He and Aura sort of adopted him after his parents died in a mugging gone wrong. He kind of was their only child until Aether came around about three years later.

Aether cleared her throat. She wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away from her. "Master, I-"

"Aether, I want you to find Ven, and inform him about Terra and Aqua's whereabouts," Eraqus cut her off. "Tomorrow, your schedules remain unchanged."

"But…" Aether was at a lost for words. She was angry. No, furious. Years of being told about the outside world, and when an opportunity comes, it's ripped away from her. "But, Master, I can handle myself out there! I-"

"Aether," the Master said firmly. "You and Ven are too young for this mission."

"You always say that!" she snapped.

"And I mean it this time."

Aether could feel her lips beginning to quiver. She turned on her heel and ran out. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair!

In her room she grabbed the ball she was previously throwing, and hurtled it at the wall. It narrowly missed her window. It bounced off the wall, and played a brief game of pinball with the other walls, floor, and ceiling until it came to a stop.

"I can't believe this!" she complained, flopping onto her bed. Rolling onto her back, she closed her eyes, and started humming to herself.

A song she heard only once a long time ago. She never could remember the words, but the melody always stuck with her. Even now, Aether never did learn what it was called.

"You really want to stay here, Aether?" she heard. "Unless you want to see Terra again, I'd get a move on if I were you."

She sat up with a jolt. A lone figure leaned against her doorframe. By the anatomy she could tell he was male. But, she couldn't see his face, due to the mask that covered his entire head. "What you mean?" Aether asked. "What about Terra?"

"I mean if you want to see him again, you'd better start catching up. But, then again, by the time you finally catch up… he could easily be someone else."

Standing up, Aether scoffed. She crossed her arms over her chest. "And why should I believe you?" she challenged. "You don't know Terra like I do."

"Believe what you want," he chuckled. "Fact is, Terra is headed down a dark road. And by the time he realizes what he's done, well, let's say he'll have dug himself in too deep."

The boy shrugged. "What do you know, really? You're stuck on this small world."

She shoved him out of her way in her dash out the door, then down the hall. The boy landed on the floor, laughing to himself.

"Seeds of doubt are _so_ easy to plant," someone behind him said.

It was another boy, in the exact imagine of the masked boy on the floor. The first figure stood up and shrugged. Dark smoke surrounded him, his form morphed into a more feminine figured. "Aren't they?" she asked.

* * *

Aether ran out to the court yard. Ven was already out, looking up as Terra zoomed off on his Keyblade Glider. "Whoa…" she muttered in awe.

A bright light suddenly caught her attention. Ventus stood, studying the new suite of armor he wore. He tossed his Keyblade into the air. When it came back down, it had taken the shape of a glider. Without another word, he hopped on and followed close behind Terra.

With her eyes still on the sky, Aether tapped the armor on her arm. She could feel her yellow armor weight down on her body. "Cool!" she said.

Smiling behind her helmet, Aether tossed Arioso into the air. It came back down in the form of a blue-grey glider with a sail. Without second thought, she jumped on, and flew off into the air. "Aether!" she heard Aqua called.

Aether ignored Aqua and the Master as they hurried into the courtyard. That boy was wrong, she was going to prove it. She was a little thankful though. It was just the push she needed to get her out of this world.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Whaaat?! That person talking to Aether was impersonating Vanitas?! Holy shit!

So, anyone who read the original draft, may notice that Aether's got a bit of an attitude to her. She's a little bratty. She want's to grow-up a bit fast. Also, renamed her Keyblade, 'arioso.'


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three  
****Dwarf Woodlands**

It was incredibly. Flying through space like this. It was exhilarating. It wasn't so urgent, she could have done this all day. But, she needed to keep Ven in sight. She assumed he had Terra in sight, so Aether would be able to find him easily.

As she followed Ven into a new world, an uneasy thought crossed her. How did was she supposed to land this thing?

Oh, dang.

Screaming, Aether suddenly lost control of her Glider. She collided with Ven as soon as both Glider, and armor vanished. "Ah!" Ven groaned. He looked over his shoulder, half-expecting some monster, or local creature. "Aether?"

"Sorry," the redhead said, rolling off her friend. "I haven't quite gotten the landing down. Where are we?"

"No idea," Ven admitted. He rubbed the back of his neck as he stood up.

The two stood on a rock bridge over a canyon. Ven peered over the side to find seven little men carrying pick axes, amongst other digging tools. They walked in a straight line, marching into the entrance of a mine. "So… do we follow them?" Aether asked.

"Well," Ven began, not quite sure of himself. "If nothing else, we could ask them if they've seen Terra. Or if there's a town nearby."

* * *

Aether followed Ven's lead while they followed the seven dwarfs into the mines. The problem was, the entrance was a tight squeeze. She really shouldn't have been surprised, given the miners.

Both Ven and Aether were just able to squeeze in. Inside countless colored diamonds covered every inch of the walls. Aether felt certain that plucking a handful would leave her set for life.

"Huh?" one of the dwarf dressed in red muttered. He looked up to see the two teens walking up to him, and the others. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ventus. You can call me Ven," Ven greeted. He gestured to Aether. "And this is my friend, Aether."

"Hi," she waved."

"Diamond thieves!" the grumpy one shouted suddenly. "Take cover, ya fools!"

All seven men ran for it. They found their own, individual hiding places somewhere in the mines. One of them, who Aether had to admit was kind of dopey, got turned around, and ran straight into the wall. "Well, aren't you a cheery bunch," Aether huffed. She crossed her arm's over her chest.

"I'm sorry," Ven said, looking a little upset. "We didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't?" the chubby dwarf asked.

"You mean…" one, rather drowsy, dwarf asked mid-yawn. "You're not here for our diamonds?"

"Nope," Aether shook her head. "We're just looking for a friend of ours. He's kinda dressed like Ven, and em… a bit taller than us."

"He goes by the name Terra," added Ven.

"Sounds like a tall tale to me," the grumpy dwarf huffed. "Go on, git! Both of you!"

"We don't know any Terra," another added.

Aether could see Ven was beginning to get a little frustrated. He was usually pretty even-tempered, so she had no idea what he was like when the wrong buttons were pushed. While the cave seemed pretty stable for seven little men to be working in, neither Ven nor Aether had anyway of knowing if that was the same further inside. "_Ven_… don't do anything stupid," she warned.

"I'm trying, but they won't listen," said Ven. To emphasize his point, he outstretched his arm, gesturing to the seven dwarfs. He looked back at them. "Please… could you come over here? We just want to talk."

"Don't fall for it!" the grumpy dwarf shouted. "Stay where ya are!"

"Alright," Ven muttered. He summoned Wayward Wind. "Then we'll do this the hard way!"

He ran after the dwarfs, starting with the poor dopey one. "Ven!" Aether shouted. Now she was about to get angry. "Didn't I just say not to do anything stupid?!"

She stepped back, startled. She was surrounded by dark blue creatures with red eye's that looked like they were perpetually crying. "Unversed!" she muttered. In an instant her own Keyblade appeared in her hand. "Ven? Ven! Where are you?!"

No answer.

One of the blue creatures jumped up in attack. She slashed through it before it could touch her. "Fire!" she shouted at the oncoming Unversed. Her magic wasn't anywhere as impressive as Aqua's, but it would definitely due.

Aether always had one rule when it came to sparring, or fighting enemies; 'don't stop moving.' If they can't catch you, they can't hurt you. And it worked as well as it could against the Unversed. She took care of the creatures with little problems, then went off to search for Ven.

She found him fairly deep in the cave. He stood in front of the seven dwarfs, trying to reason with them, again. And, again, failing. "Come on," he said, sounding a little exasperated. "I'm telling you Aether and I aren't thieves."

"Ha!" Grumpy laughed. "That's what they all say. Well we're on to ya!"

"Look," Aether huffed. "We just want-"

She was cut off. Ven placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let's just go," he said quietly. "They want us to leave, we'll leave."

Aether wanted to argue. Especially since Ven was so persistent about this. She sighed, deciding against it. "Is there a town or something near by, though?" she asked the dwarfs. "Can you tell us that?"

"There's a castle beyond the chorus," one of the dwarfs replied. "I mean, the forest.

"Kay, thanks."

* * *

They followed the dirt rode outside the diamond mind, and into the forest. Thankfully, the path was still visible under the darkened shadows of the forest. Aether suddenly bumped into Ven once he came to an abrupt stop. She was about to ask him what the problem was, when she saw the small, wooden house.

"You think the dwarves live here?" she thought out loud. Walking up to one of the windows, she wiped the dust off the window with her sleeve. Inside, everything was covered in dust and cobwebs. Dishes were piled up by the sink, clothes were discarded in random places on the floor, and furniture. "Jeez. I hate saying it, but this place needs a woman's touch."

"Everything looks to be about their size," Ven noted when he peered over her shoulder. "I'd think it's safe to say this is their house."

There was a sudden scream from further inside of the forest.

"Sound's like it's coming from the woods," she said, stating the obvious. Though, either way, it didn't look like Ven heard her. He was already bolting down the dirt path, trying to find the source of the voice.

The redhead sprinted after Ven. He already had his Keyblade in his hand, by the time she caught up. Aether notices that there were more, and more barren trees the more they traveled the woods. It seemed like everything in this part woods was dead. The Unversed roamed around the woods, attacking at random.

They found a girl, around their own age, if not a little younger. She was rather beautiful with black hair, skin as white as snow, and lips as red as blood. She looked as though she were crying. "What's wrong?" Ven asked her gently.

"Those horrible trees," she sniffed. "They tried to grab me."

"It's okay," Ven said, offering his hand to her. "You were probably just seeing things. It happens to all of us when we're afraid."

"Oh, thank you," the girl said in a sweet voice. She accepted Ven's hand. He helped her onto her feet, while she dusted off the skirt of her yellow and blue vest. "I feel quite better now. I'm sure I'll get along, somehow. But… I do need a place to sleep at night. Would either of you know where I might?"

"Em… we saw a house just ahead," Aether explained. She jerked her thumb down the forest path. "I guess you could try there."

"Oh, I'm Ventus," the blonde boy introduced. "Ven for short."

"And I'm Aether."

"Thank you, Ven, Aether," the girl smiled kindly. "My name's Snow White."

"Great," Ven nodded. "Let's get going!"

Aether fell behind as Ven lead Snow White down the road. They couldn't be careful, especially since Aether felt something odd about Snow White. Not odd _bad_, but odd _different_. Her light wasn't like anyone else Aether met in the past, it seemed more… _pure_. She never felt anything like this from anyone before.

So, apparently Unversed came in a variety. Such as a larger version of itself, boots, vases, and one that looked like a large bug. Therefore, Ven and Aether were very, very busy. Thankfully, Snow White knew when to stay out of the way, despite of her fear.

At long last they made it back to the little men's house in one piece. The three entered the house, despite the size of the door. Aether had to put a hand over her nose and mouth. She didn't realize just how dusty this place was. "I'm pretty sure you'll be safe here," Ven told Snow White. "But sit tight. We'll take a look around."

"We will?" Aether asked.

Ven gently jabbed her in the ribs with his elbow, then gestured to the door. With a sight, the red-haired girl followed Ven out the door. "Okay, give it to me strait," Aether said as they walked back into the forest. "You're sweet on her."

"What?" Ven questioned. There was a painfully obvious blush on his cheeks. "N-No, I just…"

"Uh-huh," Aether smiled.

"That's not funny, Aether."

"_I_ thought so."

* * *

"Are we done yet?!" Aether whined. She pulled out a twig from her pigtails, messing it up in the process. She and Ven searched every nook and cranny for anything that wanted to harm Snow White.

"You know," she said, tying her hair back in place. "This only proves my point."

"I just wanted to help her," Ven shot back. His face was still very red.

They hurried back to the dwarves house. "Coast is clear," Ven said upon entering the house. "Not a monster in sight - huh?"

"Is… This the same house?" Aether asked. She couldn't believe her eyes.

The house has been cleaned from top to bottom. Dish's washed, and put away. Clothes washed, and folded. The floors swept, shelves, and table tops dusted. Everything just looked so _neat_, organized. A far cry from their first visit.

By the small table, the seven dwarves stood around Snow White. Grumpy glared at the Keyblade wielders. "Couldn't stay away, could ja?" he said. "An' who invited in the rotten thieves?"

"We're still on that?" Aether asked, more to herself than anyone else.

"Oh no," Snow White shook her head. "These two rescued me."

"You fussn't be mooled," the one in the red shirt began. He quickly corrected himself with, "Uh, mustn't be fooled by them, princess."

'_Wait, she's a princess?' _Aether thought. Would it have been a coincidence that she turned out to be one of the Princesses of Heart Eraqus mentioned?

"Just go on an' git!" shouted Grumpy.

"Please don't send them away," Snow White begged him. "You see, they helped me find my way when I was lost, and oh, so very frightened."

"You never told us what you were doing in the woods, now that I think about it," Aether said without really thinking. "You didn't seem like you knew the area very well."

"Well, I was picking flowers by the woods," the princess began. "And there was a stranger there. He had a sword, but it was like a key - and then these monster came an -"

"A sword like a key…" Ven said slowly. The wheels in his head were slowly turning.

"There's only one other person…" Aether murmured. "Terra!"

"Ya mean this stranger saw ya and sent his horde of evil demons after ya?" asked Grumpy.

Aether's thoughts were running a mile a minute. No, they got the wrong person. They had the wrong man. Terra wouldn't…

"_I mean if you want to see him again, you'd better start catching up. But, then again, by the time you finally catch up… he could easily be someone else."_

It was a coincidence. Terra would not do something to hurt another without a good reason. Especially an innocent like Snow White. The girl probably wouldn't harm a fly. "Terra would never do that!" Ven shouted.

"Oh, of course. I'm sure he wouldn't," Snow White agreed. Why did Aether have a feeling that innocence was going to get her into trouble one of these days? "Not if he's someone who's your friend."

"Princess," said the dwarf in the red shirt. "You trusn't be musting - er, trusting."

"He's a-lyin'!" shouted Grumpy. "Mark my words."

"I'll prove it!" Ven shouted. He ran out before Snow White could even stop him.

Aether probably should have chased after Ven. She should have just turned around, and walked away. But she didn't. "I don't care about what you think of me," Aether told Grumpy darkly. "But Terra wouldn't hurt someone like Snow White. He's not like that! You don't know anything about him!"

She slammed the door behind her, knocking a picture off the wall, and ran. They were wrong. They just were. Terra would not attack someone without reason.

_Aether should have been working on her own stuff. She carried a foam bat in her hand, her training weapon for the moment. She watched Terra work on the target's in front of him, with nothing but a wooden sword. The little girl wished she could have worked with a wooden sword, too, but it was too big for her. Eraqus wanted to wait another year or so._

_The target the brunette struck spun around until it smacked Terra in the back of the head. Aether tried not to laugh, but that wasn't easy for a little girl. Terra rubbed the back of his head as he sat up. He spotted Aether, a devious smirk played on his lips. "Think that was funny?" he asked._

_Springing onto his feet, he gave chase after Aether, who was squealing in laughter. _

"Terra!" Ven shouted as soon as he made it out of the woods.

Aether slid to a stop. She was bent over double, panting. She noticed that Ven carried his Keyblade, so she assumed he came across a few Unversed. The edge of the woods took them to a clear meadow, with a flowerbed. Snow White had to be here before she ran off. "We've been in the woods for a while, Ven," said Aether. "Even if he was here, Terra could have left already."

"But we don't know for sure," he argued.

A red apple rolled up to his feet. Ven scooped it up in his hand, and shot a quickly glance at Aether. She shrugged. Up ahead was an old woman in a black cloak, with a wicker basket full of apples in her bony, withered hand. "Excuse me, ma'am," Ven said, walking up to her. He offered the woman the apple. "I think you dropped this."

"Oh," the woman breathed out. She accepted the apple, and placed it in her basket. "Why thank you, my pet. To tell the truth, I really don't know what I would have done without that."

Her beady eyes glanced down at Ven's Keyblade. She turned her back to them. "Haven't I seen that sword before?" she asked. It was almost as though she were thinking out loud.

"Our friend Terra has one," Ven said, hopefully. "Do you know him?"

"Oh, yes, yes," said the woman. "That ruffian pointed one of those at me, asking about some 'Xehanort' - My poor heart nearly stopped."

"That's not like him," Aether argued. She tried, she really tried, to keep herself under control. This woman looked like she was faint of heart. "Where'd he go?"

"I'm sure I have no idea," said the woman. "Must you all menace a poor granny so?"

"We didn't do anything!" Aether snapped. "We just wanted-"

"Aether," Ven said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Come on…"

The woman turned around, and hurried off. She was wrong. None of them knew their friend like they did. What did they know? Nothing. Nothing at all.

"Terra…" she heard Ven say under his breath. "What did you do?"

* * *

**Authors Note:** Poor Aether, that much faith in Terra, but what she doesn't know.


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four  
****Castle of Dreams**

Aether took off before Ven could say anything to her. She didn't want to hear it, it would only cause her doubt. That was something Aether would not allow. She knew Terra better than that, so, she would not doubt him. Whatever that woman, or the dwarves were accusing him of, he was innocent.

She didn't head off to a new world right away. Instead, Aether simply drifted across the Lanes Between. She needed, well, no, more like wanted, a little time to think. Though, she did wonder if it was safe to wander like this, but the armor was supposed to keep her safe.

After a while, Aether landed in a new world. She was in an old village, though, most of the houses were darkened. It was ghost town, even for late evening. Aether would have expected families having dinner, or talking about the day, telling stories before putting the children to sleep, and other stuff like that. But… nothing, nothing at all.

Then again, that could have easily showed how much Aether knew about other families. It was a little hard to make friends at school when all her classmates saw was some kind warrior. So, outside of Terra, Aqua, and Ven, which probably didn't count as live-in apprentices, Aether never had anyone over, or when over to a friends house.

The castle, at the edge of town, on the other hand; was lit up, and full of life. That was undoubtedly bad. Well, no if they had something to celebrate, then wonderful. But, Aether did not doubt that it would attract Unversed. She couldn't remember if the Master said anything about Unversed being weak against _other_ weapons.

"Better check it out," she said to herself.

While half-jogging to the castle Aether came up with a plan to sneak in if she came across guards. Start talking in gibberish, and pretend she didn't know what they were saying. Then if they turned a weapon on her, start running in hopes of getting lost in the crowd.

It was perfect. And it was probably going to epically fail.

To Aether's surprise, she was let in with no problem, like they were expecting her. _'Must be an open house,'_ Aether thought. _'Why else would they allow a stranger in.'_

It gave Aether a bit of hope that the castle was heavily guarded. But, then again, she had no way of knowing if they would be able to hold back the Unversed. As much as Aether hoped they could, that probably wasn't the case.

While faint, but Aether was sure she could hear music and chatter. With a bit of difficulty, Aether followed the sound, further into the castle until she came across a long hall, with men lined up on either side of the walls in an orderly fashion.

The man at the end of the hall gave Aether a respectful bow, to which Aether returned with a curtsy. The room was full of countless women in beautiful gowns of many, many colors. And the men dressed in their finest. The band played, though no one was dancing. They were all watching the man with short lack hair at the end of the room. Women would walk up to him, curtsy, then make way for the next girl. "Excuse me," Aether said, turning to the black haired man in blue, and a monocle. "Can I ask what this is about?"

And then, she realized how stupid she probably sounded. This must have been common knowledge in the kingdom. She couldn't have advertised that she was foreigner anymore than if she wore a neon sign that read, _'I'M FROM ANOTHER WORLD.'_

The man, if Aether had to guess, he was probably a Duke, gave her one of the most peculiar looks. "You haven't heard about the ball?" he asked her. "The one to help Prince Charmant find a wife? All eligible maidens in the kingdom are more than welcome."

"Oh, right, of course. How silly of me," Aether said in her attempt to sound a bit flighty. If she could play dumb, she might be able to leave the Duke without much questioning. "The big ball, tonight. How could I forget? He-he!"

The Duke continued to stare at Aether. Her act was failing, wasn't it? He seemed to accept it, just barely, and began to jot something down on a long sheet of paper he held. "Very well, Miss…"

"Uh… Aether," she said, once again probably sounding stupid.

"Miss. Aether of…"

"Uh…"

Her eyes darted around to find something. Anything. Until she spotted a trio of girls at a table lined with an assortment of foods. One of the castle servants removed the cork stopper from a glass bottle and poured the girls a drink. "Cork," said Aether.

"Miss. Aether of Cork," the Duke said writing it down. "On behalf of King Maximillian, we welcome you to the Royal Ball, please, enjoy yourself."

The redhead traveled down the room where she met Charmant. Poor guy was really trying to look polite and dignified, but Aether could tell from the look in his eyes, he _really_ didn't want to be here. This ball was probably his mother's idea. The need to spend their golden years playing with, and spoiling their grandchildren was great.

Wait, the Duke only mentioned the King. Which implied the Queen was no longer around. So this ball was _the King's _idea? _'Man, I'm way too used to the pushy mother in fairy tales,' _Aether couldn't help but think.

She really couldn't help but wonder why they allowed a fourteen-year-old in, when Charmant looked like he was about twenty-five. Unless the Duke assumed she was an ambassador of 'Cork' and Aether was just here for politics. The thought made Aether laugh. Her and politics, it was the perfect excuse to launch a kingdom into war.

After the initial meet 'n' greet, Aether filed into the crowd. There were so many people here. If an Unversed attacked she might not be able to get through this crowd in time. It seemed like everyone in the town outside came to this ball, and then some.

Her attention turned back to the ballroom's entrance where a woman with strawberry-blonde hair, in a silvery gown greeted the Duke as she made her way to meet the prince. Aether caught a quick glimpse at her. She was beautiful, she seemed pretty gentle.

The woman glanced over her shoulder, and gave someone a smile filled with gratitude. Confused, Aether followed the woman's glance. To her surprise, at the top of the stairway by the Duke, was Terra.

She pushed through the crowd, completely unaware that the woman and Charmant had begun to dance. Aether muttered her apologies and her 'excuse me's' as she pushed through. Terra looked like he was ready to leave. No, he couldn't, not without Aether seeing him. "Terra!" she called.

"Aether?" Terra said under his breath. He older boy met her at the foot of the stairs. Without warning, the redhead flung her arms around him. Terra was a bit surprised by this, but was more than happy to return the gesture. "When'd did you get here?"

"A little while ago," Aether said after they pulled apart. "I figured I should check out the ball. This many people could attack Unversed."

"It's not just the people," said Terra. He gestured to the woman and Charmant on the dance floor. By now, carious couples filed in, and began to dance as well. "Cinderella over there, the Unversed seem particularly attracted to her."

"Huh…"

Aether glanced at the woman, Cinderella. There was something about her, the very same thing she felt in Snow White. The same pure light. "No wonder…" Aether said under her breath.

Terra suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder, then pointed up to the overhead balcony. There were a number of Unversed inside. The only problem was that the only, visible way there, was through the dance floor. Which was flooded with dancers by now. "We could drop a chandelier on 'em," Aether suggested.

"Except the chaos might invoke the Unversed," Terra pointed out.

"Aw, but it'll be fun," Aether said in a mock whine.

"I think we could get through if we dance through the crowd."

"Say what now?"

"Aether, we'll be thrown out if we try to push through the crowd," Terra reasoned. "We'll be able to get through without a problem this way."

Her face was beginning to turn red. Terra had a point, of course he did, but why did it have to be something so… intimate.

Aether nodded in agreement. He took Aether by the hand, then lead her out to the dance floor. Terra place one hand around Aether's waist, as she placed her hand on his shoulder. Aether mentality counted to three, and Terra lead the two in a box step.

'_Don't look down,' _Aether told herself. _'Don't look down. Don't look down.'_

Aether would not admit this out loud, ever, but this was actually kind of nice. Terra's hand was so big in her own. But, rough and callus, much like Aether's. "That's the price we pay," he told her a long time ago.

_Aether, age six, sat at the table beside Aqua. Both girls were soaking their hands in their own blows of warm water, epsom salt and white vinegar. The Master said it was supposed to help with their fingers, but Aether said she felt like they were getting ready to turn her hands into chips._

_Aether was at the point where she could actually use the techniques she was taught in combat against Aqua. The wooden sword had done a deal of damage to her hands after a while._

_She pulled one hand out of the mixture. There were blister's forming across her palm. Some beginning to form, some just healing, and some in between. "That's the price we pay," Terra said, looking over her shoulder. "Sometimes we need to hurt in order to learn."_

"_Yeah, I know," Aqua sighed._

_Biting the inside of her cheek, Aether placed her hand back into the bowl. She winced slightly. "I'm at the point where it's hard to hold the wooden sword in my hands now."_

"_That's good," Terra said. He pulled out the chair beside her and sat down. "It mean's you're really working at it."_

"_That's right," Aqua nodded. "No pain, no gain, right?"_

_Aether looked back down at her hands though the clouded liquid in the bowl. She was working as hard as she could. _

She was a bit perplex by the time they made it to the door. Terra's plan worked perfectly, and they made it to the door with no problems. He lead the way up a couple flights of stairs. Finally at the balcony, they found an Unversed that looked much more like a band instructor.

The Unversed waved its baton and three instruments, a drum, violin, and trumpet, appeared around it. It continued to wave the baton in a rhythm, sound waves were headed straight for the two. Aether's ears started to ring as the sound became louder and louder.

Her hand's slapped over her ears, but that did little to help. It was still incredibly loud. Anymore, and Aether didn't doubt that their head's would explode. She felt Terra grab her by the shoulder, pulling her close to him. The spot they stood on erupted in intense yellow light. The Unversed stood in place, as though waiting for something, but found nothing when the light died down. The two apprentices were no where to be found.

"Try looking down, Maria!" Aether shouted.

The Symphony Master looked down at the ballroom floor. Aether and Terra were safe in once piece. Both had their Keyblade's drawn, ready to fight. The ball guests scurried out of the room. "Okay, if this was going to happen either way, we should have just dropped a chandelier," Aether grumbled.

"Guards! Guards!" the Grand Duke shouted. But, no one came in response. "Ooh, wherever could they be?"

"We'll take care of this," Terra said, glancing over his shoulder. "Just make sure everyone get's out safely."

Nodding, the Duke shouted orders to a route. People rushed out of the room, trampling people, shoving them aside. There was even servant who got stuck under the food table. "Don't cry for me Marge and Tina!" he shouted, as a couple of servant girls pushed the table off him. "Save yourselves…"

"Aether," Terra said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "I'll take the big guy, you keep the small fries out of the way."

Aether quickly glanced from the Symphony Master to the three instruments. Had she been fighting with Ven, she would have argued with him. But, given this was Terra, an exceptionally strong young man, Aether wasn't worried much.

She immediately slammed the teeth of her Keyblade into the drum, which smacked right into the trumpet. "The Angel of Music, none of you are," Aether told the instruments.

Aether skewered through the drum, hooked it onto her Keyblade, and tossed it right into the violin. The trumpet tooted loudly in her ear. Her hands slapped over her ears, as she backed up. Her ears were still ringing from the Symphony Master's opening move.

Gritting her teeth, shot a Fire spell at the damn instrument with a force that launched it into the wall. The violin came floating up to her. It's bow, hooked onto one of the strings, and pulled back as though it were the weapon. The bow launched at Aether, who blocked with the blade of her Keyblade. She pushed forward, and aimed her Keyblade right at the violin's neck, snapping it in two.

Symphony Master's instruments lied in a broken heap by the wall. Crossing her arms over her chest, Aether smiled. "Looks like they won't be playing again, even with the Unversed's apparent Think System," she said, leaning her head back. She added under her breath, "I mean, how else were they able to defy gravity?"

She looked over her shoulder, Terra was still battling against the Symphony Master. Aether smirked. "Why don't we turn this up to eleven," she muttered.

In a flash, six swords hovered behind her like a set of wings. Each sword bore a different color. It was a technique Aqua helped her develop about a year ago. But Aether never really had the chance to really try it out. Until today, anyway.

Running up to the Unversed, Aether reached behind her, and wrapped her hand around the yellow blade. "Terra, look down!" Aether shouted, thrusting the blade forward.

A powerful wave of electricity crashed into the Unversed. It dropped to it's knee, as though panting. The Thunder Blade returned to it's spot as Aether pulled out the red, Fire Blade, and drove it into the Unversed's thigh. "Terra!" Aether shouted. She held the blade in place in spite of the fire that formed around it. "Finish it!"

Terra tightened his grip on his own Keyblade. A dark ring surrounded the Unversed. It began twitching like mad. It's body began to disintegrate into darkness. Aether glanced behind her back, to find the blades had disappeared. _'Drat,'_ she thought with a roll of her eyes.

The Grand Duke suddenly walked up to them. "Thank you. You saved us all," he said with a great deal of gratitude. The Duke looked back at the empty, partially destroyed, ballroom, and sighed. "The guests were just starting to enjoy themselves…"

"Well, don't give up just yet," Terra said looking at the entrance.

Cinderella and Charmant were still together, chatting as though nothing had just happened. "Yeah," Aether smiled. "It looks like they're going to be okay. So, uh… Have these little… uh, monsters have been a problem in near-past?"

"No," replied the Duke. "I believe… they began shortly after a boy in a mask arrived at our kingdom. Those that saw him said the monsters obeyed his every command."

'_A boy in a mask?' _Aether thought, panicked. It was a coincidence, it had to be a coincidence.

"Do you know where he is now?" Terra asked, clearly intrigued by this bit of information."

"Well…" the Duke thought for a moment. "No, I don't believe anyone has seen him since then."

"I see…"

The bells of the clock struck the hour; midnight. Hiking up the skirt of her dress, Cinderella took off running for the exit. "Wait!" Charmat called for her. "I don't even know your name!"

The Duke ran after Cinderella, yelling for the guards to stall her.

"Go with her," Terra instructed Aether. She looked up at him, confused. "Make sure she get's home safely."

"_I mean if you want to see him again, you'd better start catching up. But, then again, by the time you finally catch up… he could easily be someone else."_

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm going to wait a little longer, and see if anything else happens."

Aether bit on the pad of her thumb. She didn't want to leave, especially after the mention of a masked boy. "Okay," she nodded.

* * *

Cinderella hurried down the stairs, when one of the glass slippers she wore slid off her foot. She turned back, with the intention of retrieving it. "Mademoiselle!" the Duke shouted. "Senorita! Wait!"

Aether rushed past the Duke, after Cinderella. At the bottom of the stairs, she spotted a familiar blue-haired young woman. Shit, Aether almost forgot she technically ran away from home. As soon as she caught up with Cinderella Aether placed her hands on the woman's back, and pushed her forward, increasing the speed they ran. "Aether!" Aqua shouted for her, as the two ran out the palace doors."Aqua!" Terra called, treading down the stairs to meet her.

"Terra," Aqua said. "Ven and Aether ran away from home."

"What?" he questioned. "You mean Aether wasn't-"

"No," the bluenette shook her head. "I think they both left to find you."

"Actually… Just before I left, Ven tried to tell me something. I should have listened to what he had to say."

"Oh…" Aqua thought for a moment.

* * *

Aether stopped to catch her breath, bent-over double, and hands on her knees. "Sorry…" she panted.

"No, it's alright," Cinderella reassured her. "We got away in time."

The redhead looked up at her. The beautiful ball gown was gone, and replaced with a tore and tattered pink dress. Her hair was in disarray. All in all, she looked like she had gone through hell. "So…" Aether said, absently shifting a lock of hair behind her ear. "Was it everything you hoped for?"

"A dream come true, and better," Cinderella smiled.

Aether took a step forward when she heard something clatter on the ground. There was a glass slipper, the match to the one Cinderella lost at the place. The young woman picked it up off the ground, she looked up at the night sky with a grateful smile on her face. "Thank you," she told the sky. "Thank you."

By now, Aether was curious. The fact that Cinderella's clothes changed when her back was turned, there was magic involved. But, whatever magical force she was using was kind enough to leave behind the slipper. Something that made the night all the more real.

"We shouldn't stay out too long," said Aether.

"Oh, that's okay," said Cinderella. She tore off a piece of her tattered dress, and wrapped it around the slipper. "My home isn't that far away, I should be able to make it on my own."

"But…"

"You're Terra's friend, right? He's already done so much for me, and I'm grateful for your help. But I can make it home okay from here. Thank you, though."

Aether stared at Cinderella. The Master did say that the Unversed were attracted to negativity, but right now, this woman practically radiated positive feelings. Maybe she really would be okay for the walk back. "Okay," she nodded.

Smiling, Cinderella walked off, holding the glass slipper, her proof that this night wasn't just a dream, close to her.

* * *

**Authors Note:** I realize the prince's name is officially Charming, but, many thanks to 'Shrek' whenever I see the name Prince Charming, all I can think of is the villain from the second and third movie. So, in my headcanon, he's Prince Charmant.

Prince dude… as irrelevant as you are in the original movie, the third one more than makes up for it.

Okay, game wise, this is Aqua's first world visited, by that time Terra and Ven have both visited at least two or three. So what the heck took her so long?

And Aether's Wingspell ability (yeah, I'm seriously calling it that) is a mixture of Ven's Wingblade and the Spellblade ability in the Final Fantasy series.


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five  
****Enchanted Dominion**

Aether found herself unable to focus in this world. The castle she found herself in looked like it was ready for a big celebration, banners of two kingdoms hung around castle, and, from the looks of it, the common folk gathered outside. The problem? _Everyone, _inside and outside of the castle, was asleep.

'_Magic,' _Aether decided. _'That's the only explanation. Has to be strong if it effected the entire kingdom, though.'_

But, there _had_ to be someone who could tell her what was going on. She would even take the person who cast the spell.

Aether pushed a door open. There was only one person in the room, in a bed, funnily enough. The redhead approached the sleeping figure, a woman. She had long, lush sandy blonde hair, and red lips. She was slender, and beautiful, dressed in a blue gown with a tiara on her head.

This woman had to have been placed in the bed. A loving gesture. This told Aether that she was either the first to be effected by the spell, or she was at the center of it.

When Aether approached her, she nearly leapt back. The woman's heart was gone. Aether heard enough stories growing up to know that when a person loses their heart, they fade into darkness, but this woman still remained. Was it magic?

"What happened to you?" Aether asked her. The lost of her heart, the sleeping kingdom, it had to be connected. "Don't worry. I'll figure this out and set everything right."

Aether left the castle with little problem. The castle and the kingdom was like a ghost town. Outside by the forest, however was a horse of a different color. The forest was dark, eerie, and barren. Something told her she was on the right track.

Something whizzed passed her overhead. Aether slid to a stop and looked back, while it went by so fast, she could tell it was a heart, a heart of pure light, like Snow White and Cinderella. "Her heart?" Aether wondered out loud.

Shaking her head, Aether continued running until she found another castle in a dark, barren wasteland. "I think I'm in the right place," she said to herself.

The inside of the castle wasn't much different than outside. Dark, unkempt, a darkness that was suffocating, and unversed littering the area. "Definitely in the right place," Aether muttered.

"Aether!" she heard, then instantly froze up. "There your are!"

Slowly turning her head over her shoulder, Aether found Aqua running up to her. "I've been looking everywhere for you," said Aqua. "The Master want's you and Ven home right away."

'_They always say that,' _Aether thought bitterly.

"I can't leave yet," Aether argued. "There's a kingdom outside the forest, _everyone's_ asleep. I think it has something to do with one of the Princess of Heart the Master mentioned."

"What do you mean?"

"I found a lady sleeping, she looked peaceful enough, and given what I saw, it looked innocent enough. But when I looked closer, I found her heart was gone."

"What?" questioned Aqua.

"I don't get it either, but I can't shake the feeling that they're both connected somehow."

Aqua lightly gripped her chin as she thought. What if Aether was right? But, she wasn't supposed to be here, anyway, Aqua really should have taken her home. On the other hand, Aqua knew Aether wasn't about give up on something she set her mind to. If she was dead set on figuring this out, it would just be easier to let Aether finish this, _then_ convince her to go home.

"All right," nodded Aqua. "If you're sure, let's see if we can help."

The redhead nodded. She knew what game Aqua was playing at, but if she wasn't being dragged home right off, Aether wasn't complaining. She would come up with something when the issue was brought up.

They traveled across the castle, plowing through the unversed. Aqua always excelled at magic, as she generically favored magic over brute force. Growing up she always helped Aether tune into her own magical ablates, and help her to come of with a few techniques.

As they walked through one of the stone hall's Aether was about to ask if Aqua thought they had much farther. That was when she heard it. "There's no way Terra would hurt somebody like that!"

"Ven?" she gasped.

"You don't believe me?" a smooth, near seductive voice asked. "That's unfortunate, for he agreed so easily.""He did?"

Aether ran forward, and found Ven standing in the middle of the room. On the higher ledge was a woman with olive green skin, dressed in black robes. Her friend looked confused, like he was about give up on his hope and faith in his friends. "Ven!" Aether shouted running up to him with Aqua on her heels.

"Aether, Aqua!"

"Terra would never do that," Aqua reassured him. "You know that as well as I do."

Ven's eyes traveled down to the floor for a moment. A small smile creped onto his face, as he looked up at the girls. "Yeah," he nodded.

"Ahh, the truth can be most cruel," said the woman. "Even amongst the closest friends. After all, one never knows the secrets of another's heart. I'm sure you'll agree… Ventus… Aqua… Aether."

Aether's muscles tensed. How did she even know their names? Aether and Aqua never introduced themselves, and she assumed the same could be said for Ven. Ven started to shake in anger, while Aqua looked just as uneasy as Aether did. "The Master sent me," Aqua told Ven. "Let's go home."

"But Terra…" Ven said weakly.

"Terra's not ready to leave yet."

Ven was silent for a moment. Praying to herself, Aether hoped Ven wouldn't listen. If Ven just gave in, she didn't doubt Aqua would drag Aether back home too. "Sorry, Aqua," Ven said looking up. "But I can't go with you. It's just… I have to find him before it's too late!"

Aqua called out his name as Ven ran for the exit, and presumably out of this world. Aether smiled. Ven was one of the most soft-spoken guy's she knew, but he would put his foot down when needed. "I see you two," the woman continued, her eyes on the girls. "A couple of Keyblade wielders"

"How do you know about the Keyblade?" Aqua demeaned.

"A source of power… a key that opens the hearts of men of the entire worlds… and allows one to obtain anything and everything. Such power I find most fascinating. "

A thought crossed Aqua. This woman, this witch, she wouldn't have known anything about the Keyblade and it's abilities unless someone told her about it. There was only one other person who could have done that. "So, Terra…" she said softly. "He really…"

"No!" Aether snapped. "He wouldn't-""Yes, my dear," the woman said with the utmost satisfaction. "Would you like to assist me, as well?"

Glaring up at the woman, Aqua sunk down, ready to strike the woman if necessary. Aether followed Aqua's lead, she wouldn't go down easily. "I see, Xehanort was right. You are a most stubborn girl," the woman smiled. Her eyes wandered to Aether. "Though, it does pleasure me to know that Aura's child actually has a spine."

That threw Aether off guard. How could the witch in front of her know Aura? No, she was just playing games with her. Had to. "Alas," the woman continued. "It seems you both need some time to consider my offer. Fortunately, I have the perfect place."

The tip of her staff glowed a sickly green. Aether gasped as the floor beneath her gave way.

* * *

_Three-year-old Aether sat on the ground close to a man who's face she couldn't see. But Aether was at all worried, in fact, she was happy to see this man. They watched as Eraqus ran over a few drills with Terra. Aura stood by them, pacing back and fort in front of Aether and the man. "Sounds like your looking into dangerous territory," said Aura._

"Aura_," the man sounded exasperated. "What's wrong with a little curiosity."_

"_Coming from you, plenty," the red haired woman crossed her arms. _

_Aura rubbed her temples for a moment. "We shouldn't be talking about this in front of Aether."_

"_C'mon," the man said, tussling Aether's hair. "I'm sure the little tyke missed me, huh?"_

"_Uh-huh!" Aether nodded._

"_You're going to be a bad influence on her," Aura argued._

"_For what?" the man challenged. "For having curiosity? For having ambitions?"_

"_The means you go for them!"_

_The man leaned back, keeping an arm around Aether. She couldn't see it, but she could tell he was glaring at Aura. He wasn't happy with her. "Do you miss it, at all?" he asked._

"_Miss what?" _

"_Living under that bitches-"_

"_Hey!" Aura shouted, gesturing to Aether._

"_Roof? The beating's she gave you? The night's with empty stomachs?"_

"_Of course I don't," Aura sighed. "What are you getting at?"_

"_Wouldn't you like to see her turned to dust? Fried? Set ablaze? I know I would. I would love to see everyone who ignored us, everyone who tossed us aside, get what's coming to them."_

"_See, the problem with that, is that we had a pretty decent life when Master Nxei found us. I'm not complaining. What you _really_ mean is everyone who wronged you getting what's coming to them. Or, at least, how you see fit."_

"_And why shouldn't I?" the man argued. "If I have the mean's to do so-"_

"_But you don't!" Aura snapped. "You know what to look for, but you don't have them. It's better that way! You're digging yourself into something dangerous."_

"_Why be ignorant, Aura?" he challenged. He stared running his hands through Aether's hair. "You plan on keeping her ignorant, too? Especially regarding something she's close too."_

_The look in Aura's eyes became dangerous. It was like she would have set the man on fire if Aether wasn't so close to him. "It's better if she doesn't know," Aura said darkly. "It won't fulfill her life knowing."_

"_Is it really better Aether doesn't know? Or are you and Eraqus better off pretending it didn't happen?"_

_That seemed to have done it for Aura. She snatched Aether, and held her against her hip. "Aether, say good-bye."_

* * *

"_The nerve of him!" Aura snapped. "It was like he was trying to imply that it was my fault!"_

"_You know, and he knows it wasn't," Eraqus tried to consult her. Both of them sat at the table. Aether, who should have been in bed at the time, spied on them through a crack in the door. "You're just letting him get to you."_

"_And see how easy it is."_

* * *

"Aether!" Aqua's voice reached her. "Come on… Aether!"

Aether's eyes fluttered open. She sat up only to be greeted with a throbbing head. Was that a memory? If so, then who was that man? "Can you get up?" Aqua asked her.

"Yeah," the redhead nodded.

She prodded at the goose egg that was no doubt forming, and winched. It was, predictably, tender. Taking a Potion from her pocket, Aether took a swig. She could feel the pain beginning to dull.

"Who are you?" she heard.

There was a young man with brown hair chained at the opposite end of the room. "My name is Aqua," the Keyblade Master introduced. "And this is my friend Aether. I guess we were caught in a trap."

"What happened to you?" asked Aether. The guy seemed a bit powerless, so there had to be a specific reason why he was down in this cell.

"To prevent me from breaking her curse," he explained. "I was to meet the most beautiful girl at a cottage by the glen, but now my true love lies in an eternal slumber… and only I can break the spell."

"So you're stuck here, then?"

"Not completely. Maleficent did say I would be free too go, when I am too old and frail for my love to recognize me."

'_Deliciously devious,' _Aether couldn't help but think.

Something bothered her, though. A beautiful girl in eternal slumber? It had to be the same girl Aether found earlier. "You must really love this girl," said Aqua.

"Is what you said true?" a grandmotherly voice said. Three fairies, each one dressed in red, green, and blue, appeared in the cell with them.

"Yes," the young man replied. "Maleficent told me."

"Oh, Prince Phillip! It's you!" Flora cried, happily. The red fairy flicked her wand, and the chains binding Phillip dissolved. "Now, Phillip. The road to true love may be barred by many more dangers which you alone will have to face."

"I'll go, too," Aether spoke up.

"No, you need to go home," Aqua argued. "I'll take care of this, and find Ven."

"But, Maleficent claimed to know Aura," argued Aether. The faded memory of Aura and the man would not leave her. "I just want…"

Aqua couldn't argue if she wanted. She never met Master Aura, as she died long before Aqua was brought in as an apprentice. But, Terra and the Master remembered her fondly. She didn't know just what happened to Aura other than she was killed in action. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Aether, surrounded by two people who had some clear memories of her. But Aether was still really young when her mother died. If someone, even someone as devious as Maleficent, knew her, Aether would want answers.

"We'll go with you," Aqua told the fairies. "There's something we need to know, and Maleficent has the answers."

"Of course, dear," Flora said with a nod. "Now, come along. We must hurry to Aurora."

"Aether," Aqua said to her friend as the fairies led Phillip out. "Once this is done, you're going home. Okay?"

"Sure," the redhead said innocently with her hand behind her back.

Aether couldn't help but smirk as Aqua followed the rest of the party. She may have been her friend, but Aqua was crazy if she believed Aether would comply that easily.

Besides, she had her fingers crossed.

* * *

Thankfully, Phillip was competent with the sword. He was able to help Aether and Aqua get through Maleficent's goons. Phillip lead the way back to Aurora's kingdom.

According to the three fairies, Aurora was supposed to meet her parents for the first time in sixteen years. Maleficent placed a curse on her as a baby (all because she was snubbed) to prick her finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel on her sixteenth birthday and die. But, while they couldn't cancel the curse, one of the fairies, Merryweather, altered it so that she would be in eternal sleep, only to be woken by true loves kiss. Obviously, it happened, so the three good fairies put the kingdom to sleep until the spell is broken.

Phillip, the prince of a neighboring kingdom, was betrothed to marry Aurora since they were both young. They met by chance in the glen not too long ago. Though, neither of them realized they were already promised to marry each other.

They were getting closer to Aurora's kingdom. It looked like both spells would be broken sooner than expected. Or, at least, it would have, had Maleficent not seen them. "A forest of thorns shall be your tomb," Maleficent cursed. The orb on the top of her staff glowed once more. "Wound 'round the castle in a bower of doom!"

From the ground shot up dead plants covered in thorns. Within seconds a sizable briar patch blocked the entrance to the castle. Keeping Aurora out of Phillip's reach. Phillip, Aqua, and Aether slid to a stop as Maleficent appeared in front of them in a flurry of green flames. "Maleficent!" shouted Aqua. "What did Master Xehanort tell you?"

"Such a pity, child," Maleficent lamented. "That you don't have Terra's gift for obedience. Nor can you see how easy it was for him."

Aether grit her teeth. Her grip on her Keyblade was beginning to tighten. "Shut up!" she shouted. "Terra wouldn't help the likes of you!"

"Quite the contrary. He fully embraced the darkness within himself."

"Stop lying!"

The witch cackled. "I suppose the apple _does_ fall far from the tree," she said to herself. "Aura was a pitiful child, hard to believe she amounted to anything."

By now, Aether's face was turning red. She couldn't attack Maleficent without getting the answer she wanted. "How do you know her?"

Maleficent laughed to herself again. "Dear girl, didn't anyone tell you about her home world?"

"What?"

This world, this world with someone like Maleficent, was Aura's home world? Aether always thought she was from the Land of Departure. Why didn't the Master ever bring this up? Didn't he think Aether would have liked to know? "She's just trying to distract you, Aether," Aqua warned. "Darkening your heart, and clouding your mind."

The witch threw her head back, laughing manically. "See for yourself!" she boasted, lifting both hands into the hair. "All the powers of hell!"

She erupted into flames, high into the air. Aether couldn't say for certain, but she thought she saw a dark outline in the flames. The outline morphed into a towering black dragon. Green flames erupted from the dragon's mouth, immediately all three of them leaped out of the way.

"We'll need to distract her," said Phillip. "If we can distract her long enough, we might be able to penetrate her heart."

He gestured to the sword the fairies blessed with their magic. "Okay," Aqua nodded. "A few long-ranged spells should work."

"I got this one," Aether said.

Taking a few breaths in, Aether gently placed her finger tips on her free hand over her heart. She had a steady rhythm building up, after the fifth breath in, small blue ember's came out of her mouth as she exhaled. Aether removed her hand, to reveal a tiny blue flame where her hand was. The flame spread around her body, taking on the shape of a dragon's head. Not like Maleficent but, more of square head.

"Aqua, I want to try something," Aether said, unaffected by the flames surrounding her. "When I say so, cast your strongest ice spell, aim at the head."

"Got it," Aqua said, readying her Keyblade. "Prince Phillip, as soon as you see an opening, strike her down."

Aether drew her Keyblade behind her, and readjusted her grip on. Taking one more breath in, she tossed it a Maleficent. The dragon head traveled over to her Keyblade. Aether lifted her arm's to the side, creating a pair of flaming blue wings. The upper half of the dragon moved in sync with Aether's actions. If she swayed to the side, so did the dragon.

It was a technique Aura originally created in her prime, just for large enemies, or enemies in the distance. She apparently used it a lot, as it earned her the title Red Ice Dragon. It was supposed to be made of snow and ice particles, but ice was never Aether's specialty, so it was modified to blue fire.

Aether used the dragon to play a game of cat and mouse with Maleficent. Always moving, never stopping. "Aqua!" shouted Aether.

A Blizzard spell was shot straight at Maleficent's head, with a force that threw her off balance. Angry, she steadied herself. Fire shot out of her mouth, right at Aqua and Aether's feet. They leaped back, blocked by the flames.

Phillip was his own, battling the dragon head on. Three balls of light appeared beside the girls. It was the good fairies. "All together," Flora instructed. The three fairies waved their wants above their heads. "Now sword of truth, fly swift and sure… that evil die, and good endure."

Their magic blessed Phillip's sword in the nick of time. The Prince, with all his might, threw the sword straight at Maleficent. It embedded itself, right into her heart. The dragon died in black smog, and green fire. The briar patch dissolved, as though it were never there to begin with. The castle returned to it's former glory. Phillip hardly noticed. He immediately ran into the castle to find Aurora.

Maleficent wasn't quite dead, but unmistakably in a weakened state. "It's the power of true love that defeated you," Aqua told her.

"I will not be defeated by something insignificant as love," she replied.

"You don't even know anything about it," muttered Aether. "If someone offered you their heart out of love, would you even notice the gesture or it's significance?"

"Let me tell you something, Aether," Maleficent looked over her shoulder. "I once knew of a woman. Poor enough she could hardly take care of herself, let alone her two children. She claimed that everything she did, the very hell she put herself through, was out of love for those children. And it was that… love, that drove her to her grave."

"Well, I don't doubt that woman died happy," Aqua argued. "If you're going to die for love, then die to keep your children alive. No matter how hard you try, or how hard you belittle that woman's sacrifice, you'll never be able to defeat those hearts filled with light."

"Perhaps… But remember one thing - as long as there is light, there will always be darkness. And in time, many more will be drawn to it. Then they will all belong to me!"

Maleficent vanished without another word. Aqua looked to her side, with the intent on telling Aether to go home, but Aether was already gone when Aqua's back was turned. The Keyblade Master thought about what Maleficent said about Terra. If he didn't have trouble keeping his darkness in check during the exam, then maybe Maleficent was onto something.

She knew Aether wouldn't believe it until it came from horses mouth. Terra was always her hero. Ever since Aqua first met them both, the way Aether saw him was obvious to her. But she kept her mouth shut about it for years not wanting to embarrass or upset Aether.

But now, Aqua might not have a choice. Aether was going to need to take off her rose colored glasses sooner or later. Then what would happen?

"Terra…" Aqua sighed. "You better stay strong for us."

* * *

**Authors Note: **Well, gee! I wonder who that man could've been? It's throwing me on so many loops!


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six  
****Radiant Garden - The Sorcerers Apprentice**

Aether ran as the first moment she could. Her mind was still reeling. Everything Maleficent claimed about Terra, and Aura. She wasn't sure if Maleficent could be trusted. Everything about her was a blaring sign that said no, but there was that nagging thought in the back of her head.

That did not explain how she knew Aura. Growing up, Aether was always under the impression she grew up in the Land of Departure, like she did. Suddenly, Aether realized, she really didn't know much about her mom. Eraqus never really talked about her much, he remembered her very fondly, but he never talked about her.

Shaking her head, Aether sailed into the atmosphere of the next world.

* * *

After three worlds that were stuck in the past, Aether was a little surprised to find one wasn't unlike the Land of Departure. She landed in the middle of a town that was busy with there day. The area was littered with flower beds, and water fountains.

"Wow…" Aether said under her breath.

This was a pretty ideal setting for a cool spring night. Aether could just imagine it

There was a shrill scream. A woman in a white lab coat crossed Aether's path, followed by the Unversed. The woman whipped around, then slowly backed up as the Unversed surrounded her. "Hold on!" Aether shouted, summoning her Keyblade.

She drove her Keyblade into the Unversed, surprising the woman. The smirk Aether bore faltered. The number of Unversed were getting too much. She couldn't fight all of them, without putting the woman at risk. "Need a hand?"

One of the Unversed disintegrated as a Keyblade collided with it. An anthropomorphic mouse appeared at her side. He was dressed in black and grey, with a purple Keyblade in his hand with a star and moon motif. Aether found herself thunderstruck. "Where did you…?"

"Let's worry about that later," said the mouse. "Right now we have other things to worry about."

He was surprisingly skilled, and very fast for his size. Aether was amazed how fast the two of them were able to deal with the Unversed. _'Color me impressed,' _thought Aether.

The mouse dismissed his Keyblade and looked up at Aether. "You were pretty good," he complimented.

"Thanks," Aether said. She sunk down to her knees to meet the mouse's eyelevel. "I'm Aether. I train under Master Eraqus."

'_Assuming he doesn't drop me as a student after all this,' _she added silently.

"Nice to meet you, Aether," said the mouse. "I'm Mickey, apprentice to Master Yen Sid."

"Really? I heard he was retired."

"Well, ya see," Mickey explained. "He's been teaching me for years the art of the Keyblade, _and_ sorcery."

The redhead thought for a moment. Well, she did hear that Yen Sid took up mostly specialized in sorcery once. So it kind of went without stay that he would have taken up an apprentice in that study. Maybe he took Mickey as a Keyblade apprentice before retiring. Or maybe Mickey was a special case.

"Thank you again, Mickey," Aether said standing up.

"No problem. Sorry to cut this so short, there's someone here I need to see."

"Okay."

She watched as Mickey walked off towards the castle. She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder. Aether looked up to see the woman she just rescued smiling down at her, kindly. "Thank you very much," she said. "I must say, I'm impressed. I don't see that many girl's you age who would rush into a horde of monster like that."

She looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties. She had long brown hair that was pulled back into a high ponytail with a yellow ribbon tied around it. Over all, she was very pretty. "I'm just doing my job, ma'am," said Aether.

"Please, call me-"

"Lucrecia!" a man called for her.

He was dressed in a blue uniform with a few heart insignias. His hair was black, a little askew, with bangs long enough to cover his eyes. He was bent over double, catching his breath. With a fairly warm day like this, and a uniform like that mixed with a bit of running, and he looked like he just ran a marathon. "I thought… I told you… not to-not to wander off," he panted. He cleared h is throat and stood up as though nothing happened. "Especially with all those monsters running around."

"Everything's fine, Vincent," Lucrecia said, pulling Aether into a one-armed hug. "This young Miss had everything under control. Oh, sorry, I don't believe I caught your name."

"I'm Aether," said the redhead. "Really, it wasn't any trouble."

"Trouble or not, you have my thanks," Vincent said, giving the girl a slight nod. "You must be very brave or very foolish to handle those creatures on your own."

"Can I go with the former?" muttered Aether.

A flying Unversed caught Aether's attention. If flew farther into town, where civilians were, no doubt. "Sorry," she said, running after the Unversed. She stopped briefly to look back at Vincent and Lucrecia.. "I got something to take care of. Sorry, again!"

* * *

The Unversed took Aether just about all over the place. Past a gorgeous water fountain, past the tanks, and other gizmo's that made it run. To the water cannel. When she caught up, she found Terra, just as Ven an Aqua showed up. "Guys?" Terra questioned as his friends ran up to him at the Reactor.

"Yo," Aether greeted, lightly pounding her fist against her chest.

The Unversed they were all chasing gathered together, creating once Unversed, the Trinity Armor. "Terra!" Aqua shouted, as she rushed up to the Unversed.

"Ven, Aether! Now!" ordered Terra.

The four of them leapt into the air. Aqua was the first one to strike at the Unversed, followed by Ven and Terra in an X formation, and finally, Aether, finishing the job. They each landed back on the Reactor, and watched the Unversed disappeared into darkness. "Got 'im," Terra said as the group ran up to each other.

"We make a good team," Aqua smiled.

"Yeah, we do!" Aether said, fighting the urge to punch at the air.

"Oh!" Ven gasped. He reached into his pocket and pulled out three passes.

Aether accepted the one Ven gave to her. 'Disney Town,' it read. "What's this?" asked Terra.

"Lifetime passes to Disney Town," Ven explained. "He said to bring a friend… and my parents."

His gaze was held at Terra and Aqua, prompting the two to exchange looks. "You mean us?" asked Aqua. Both Aqua, and Terra laughed at this as a pang of jealously tore through Aether. "Listen to me, Ven… we need to get you and Aether home-"

"It's okay, Aqua," Ven interrupted. "Trust me, that guy in the mask is history. He'll never bad-mouth Terra again."

Terra's eyes widened. His arm shot out to grab Ven harshly by the shoulder. "You saw the boy in the mask?" he demanded.

"Y-Yes…" Ven stuttered, clearly shaken by this.

"You know who he is?" Aether asked.

"Vanitas," Terra said quietly. He looked up skyward while he released Ven, and stepped back. "Ven. You let Aqua take you and Aether home."

"No way," a distraught Ven said. "I wanna go with you."

"You can't. We have a dangerous task ahead of us. I don't want either of you to get hurt."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Aether let out a frustrated 'tsk.' Why did everyone insist on talking to them like this? She knew that both her and Ven could handel whatever the worlds had to throw at them. Why couldn't Terra, Aqua, and the Master see that?

"Everyone always says that," she said under her breath.

"And what is this dangerous task, Terra?" Aqua asked, crossing her own arms. There was an accusatory tone in her voice that Aether really didn't like. "It doesn't sound like what the Master told you to do."

"It might be a different route," Terra said, looking down. "But I'm fighting the darkness."

"I'm not so sure. I've been to the same worlds as you, and I've seen what you've done. You shouldn't put yourself that close to darkness."

"Aqua!" Aether shouted. "How could you-"

"Aether, you saw what Terra did to Aurora."

"Listen to yourself!" Ven argued. "Terra would never-"

"You mean you've been spying on me," Terra accused angrily. "Is that what he said to do? The Master's orders?"

Aether felt like someone just slapped her. What about that second chance the Master went on about? How Terra was practically his son? Was all of that just pretty words to give him a false hope? "That's not true, is it, Aqua?" Aether asked.

The Keyblade Master didn't answer, which was enough for everyone else. But, Aqua wasn't the only one who never confirmed nor denied an accusation towards them. "I get it," said Terra. He headed off when Ven shouted for him. "Just stay put! I'm on my own now, all right?"

"Terra, please!" Aqua pleaded. "The Master has no reason to distrust you, really! He was just worried."

"Or maybe he does," Aether said bitterly. Terra stopped, and glanced over at her. "You heard me. Maybe the Master was right to send someone as your babysitter!"

Terra turned back towards the exit and walked off without a second glance. "How could you say that to him?" Ven demanded.

"So now you know the truth," Aqua said with a sigh. "You both know as well as I do that the Master loves Terra."

"So where you also 'ordered' to take us home?" Ven asked coldly. No answer. "Aqua… now that you're a Keyblade Master, you let it all go to your head. I'm going to find Terra."

Ven ran off after Terra, disappearing in the shadowy pathway that lead him there. "And what about me?" Aether asked. She avoided contact with Aqua. "You going to tell me, again, that I need to go home?"

"I have half a mind to drag you back there," Aqua replied. "You promised me you would-"

"I didn't promise anything! I didn't swear anything. You just accepted what I said."

"Aether," Aqua said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "The Master worries about you just as much as he does Terra and Ven. Come on, let's go-"

Aether slapped her friends hand away and stepped back. "Don't finish that sentence," she growled. "I'm not going back. Not until everyone stops that."

"Stops what?"

"Talking to Ven and I like that! We're both more than capable of taking care of ourselves, but you and the Master insist on-"

"Aether," Aqua voice rose. Obviously she was getting as frustrated as much as Aether was. "You've seen the outside world now. You know how risky it is."

"I'm still here, though! I made it, with no problems! Not even a close call!"

Aether gripped either side of her head. She wanted whack Aqua for her persistence on treating Aether and Ven like young children. She wanted to whack Aqua for spying on Terra. She wanted to set Terra on fire for the things he did. After Aether defended him until she was blue in the face, and then thing happened.

"You can tell the Master I'm not going back without Terra or Ven," the redhead said.

She left Aqua alone in the reactor. She wouldn't allow herself to break. She was stronger that… she was stronger than that…

She _wanted_ to be stronger than that.

* * *

**Authors Note:** I hate to say this. I really hate to say this… But, I've been debating for a while on whither or not I want to rewrite my series as a whole after this story. The more I think about it, the more I think I should.

So, within the next chapter or two, this story will get a new title, yes, I'm changing the titles to. When this story is done, I'll begin rewriting this from the beginning. I'll keep the old stuff up for a while though.

I'm sorry. After finishing DtL I wouldn't have made this choice unless I felt like I _really_ had to. Because I feel like I can do better. I want my things to be the best they can be. I've been thinking about it for a while, like, while I was still finishing DtL, because something felt wrong. Some stuff felt rushed, unexplained. So, I thought about giving the whole thing a rewrite with a new title, because… the titles I have feel so bland.

I'm sorry… again…

If I have anymore information on this rewrite, I'll have a journal entry on deviantART up.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven  
****Radiant Garden - The Encounter**

Aether sat against a raised flower bed, her knees hugged close to her chest. How could they? The Master, Terra, Aqua, all of them. Well, no, not all of them. Ven was probably the only one that was innocent in all this. His only fault in everything was having that much faith in Terra, even when the truth was staring at him in the face.

Was Aether an innocent in this? Probably not. She was given a direct order to stay in the castle, Ven never heard it, it was Aether's job to pass the message, but she disobeyed her dad. Teenage rebellion wasn't exactly an excuse for bad behavior. It was just a pretty word.

But Aether trusted Aqua, even if she didn't always agree with her. Like leaving her family to train with the Keyblade. Terra and Ven, in some ways even Aether, came from broken families. Aqua's parents, who Aether only met once, had a really good marriage, and absolutely adored their daughter. There was some part of Aether that thought Aqua was crazy for leaving them.

Either way, she was excited when the Master took on another girl as an apprentice. It was around the same time Aether really started too, so they were starting out together. That was cool to a six-year-old Aether. She _really_ trusted Aqua, but then she reveals to be a spy for the Master.

Aether knew rising her on his own wasn't easy for Eraqus. It wouldn't be easy for any single father. But Eraqus had to juggle being her dad and being her teacher. Somewhere along the line the two images kind of morphed into one. She called him 'Master' more than she did 'Dad.' Sometimes it seemed like the Master image completely overruled the father image. Right to the point where he couldn't trust the students he claimed to care for as his own children.

Terra. _Terra_. He was there for as long as she could remember. Always teaching her a few moves, giving her pointers. She wanted to be a Keyblade Master in hopes of catching up with him. Aether didn't want to be chasing after him forever, she wanted to be on equal grounds. Then maybe, just _maybe_, he wouldn't see her as that little girl who watched him train. Or the Master's daughter. Maybe he would finally see her as a woman.

'_But you can't see it at all, can you?' _Aether thought, burying her face into her knees. _'You can't see how much I love you…'_

She had been in love with Terra practically her whole life. He could do no wrong to her. Then this happens, shattering anything and everything she thought about Terra.

"The phrase, 'I told you so,' comes to mind," she heard.

Aether jumped. She looked up to see the boy in the mask, Vanitas, seated on the flowerbed behind her. "I thought Ven took care of you," she gasped.

"_Please_," he sneered. "He's going to have to try harder to do me away."

"Fine, you where right!" Aether snapped. She stood up and crossed her arms. "What do you want, a metal? Just leave me alone."

"Eh… What's the magic word?"

"Beat it!"

"Close, but not quite."

Aether's brow creased. This guy was seriously one of the last people she wanted to see. Everything would have been fine if he didn't show up. If Vanitas didn't come see her, and give her that cryptic message, she wouldn't have known any of this.

"If you're trying to invoke me," she said, summoning Arioso. "It's working."

His head leaned back as he laughed in a condescending manner. "Think you can beat me?" challenged Vanitas.

"I don't think," Aether shot back. "I know."

"Suite yourself," Vanitas said, summoning a Keyblade.

It was wide, consisting of dark grey, red and beige. The teeth took the shape of a bat wing, with a blue cat-like eye. The hilt resembled a bronze ram's head. The guard had a bit of a wing-like shape, that was red, with beige plating. It's keychain seemed very out of place for the Keyblade. It was in the shape of a butterfly made of yellow and pink stain glass, held together by another blue cat-like eye.

Vanitas was suddenly right in Aether's face, his Keyblade grazing her side. Her own Keyblade landed behind her. It clattered a few times before it disappeared. "Too slow," he taunted.

Vanitas' fist drove into Aether's abdomen. His opposite hand dismissed his Keyblade, and whopped her in the jaw. He suddenly kicked her the chest, throwing Aether onto her back a few feet away.

The wind was knocked out of her. Her thought ran a mile a minute. How could he move so fast?

Standing over her, Vanitas chuckled. "And here I thought you were Master Eraqus' kid," he said. He stood with one foot on either side of her. "I guess genetics and skill are two entirely different things."

Aether tried to get up, but Vanitas placed one foot firmly on her wrist. He crouched down, on her chest. She could practically feel his wicked smirk behind his helmet. "You can't imagine how much I'll enjoy this," he said darkly.

"What are you- Ah!"

His hands wrapped tight around Aether's neck. It was already difficult for her breath. She struggled to free her arms, but the weight on her writs proved to much. Kicking was also difficult as Vanitas' position her chest was too far up for Aether to properly kick.

Aether wasn't able to keep this up much longer. She was going to black out soon if she couldn't get air. No, no! She couldn't die like this! She couldn't…

Vanitas suddenly grunted. Aether managed to open one eye to find a girl, about her age, maybe a year older as most, holding a lance to the masked boy's neck. "Get off her," she hissed. "_Now_."

Vanitas let out a 'hump,' and the girl squeezed the base of the lance tighter to his neck. He released her neck. A furry of coughs erupted from her mouth. "Look's like you bought yourself a little more time," he told Aether. "Look's like we'll have to deal with you later."

He elbowed the girl who rescued her in the side, knocking her off her feet. She lost her grip on her lance, releasing Vanitas from it's choke-hold. He disappeared into darkness, leaving behind no trace of his presents.

Aether rolled onto her side, trying to catch her breath. Sitting up, she looked up at the girl through watery eyes. "Thank you for that," she choked out.

The girl's eyes traveled from left to right. It was pretty obvious that she was uncomfortable. "You're welcome…" she murmured.

"My name's Aether," she said, standing up.

"Celine…"

She looked about a year or two older than Aether was. She had bubblegum pink hair that went down to her mid-back. Her eyes were orange-gold, though she looked like she hadn't gotten much sleep. She was very thin, and a bit pale. Celine looked like hell. "Here," Celine said, reaching out for Aether's neck. "Lets see if he left a mark."

She gently pulled down the neck of Aether's shirt, then tilted her head up slightly. "You're bruised," said Celine.

"Well, my throat hurts like hell, so…"

"Who was that guy?"

"Just a jerk."

"It seems like he had it out for you," Celine pointed out.

"Should be the other way around," Aether muttered."Hm? What do you mean?"

"It's nothing…"

"Your boyfriend dumped you because of that guy?"

Flinching, Aether's face began to turn red. "We aren't… dating…" she muttered.

Celine was silent for a moment, studying Aether's face. She didn't pretend to know just what was going on, but wanted to help. The pinkette took Aether by the hand. "Come on," she said, leading the girl down the road.

"Where're we going?""You'll see."

The masked boy leaned against the wall of a nearby building. Watching the two girl's disappear into the crowd. They could have knocked the pink haired girl's skull in for that stunt. "Must you stay in my form like that?" Vanitas asked, appearing beside the figure.

"You're just jealous that I can pull you off better than you," the figure said in a feminine voice.

Dark missed surrounded them, and the figure took on the form of Master Xehanort. "Would you prefer this?"

"Yeah, no…"

"Kill joy," the figure sighed, changing back to their true form. "So what'd you want?"

* * *

Celine lead Aether to a stand being run by an anthropomorphic duck, in a blue jacket lined with red, and a black top had. "Back so soon, Celine?" the duck asked in a thick accent. "You're gonna gain a bit of weight at this rate, lassie."

"Specially occasion, Mr. McDuck," said Celine. She pulled Aether in front of her. "This one's in need of a bit of comfort food."

"All right then," said Mr. McDuck. "What can I get for ye?"

"Two sea-salt ice creams, please."

Mr. McDuck dug around in the stand as Celine fished out a couple of munny balls. "Nice doing business with you, Celine," the duck said, as he passed two bars of blue ice cream to Celine. "Could you tell your father his shipment just came in?"

"Sure," Celine said. She added under her breath, "If he's not too busy…"

She lead Aether to a nearby bench where she took a bite from her ice cream bar. "What was that?" Aether asked. Was that sticking her nose in Celine's business? Too late to take it back now.

"My dad really likes this kind," she explained. "So every so often we buy a big shipment for the castle."

"Castle?" Aether repeated.

"Yeah. I live in the castle there," Celine said as though it were obvious. She jerked her thumb in the direction of the castle. "My dad, the resident sage-king had a few live-in apprentices, my older cousin and… I guess you can call him my stepbrother. So we usually get a decent supply of ice cream."

"Oh…" Aether's voice trailed off. They wouldn't have had something like that back home. The Master wanted them to stay in shape, so having ice cream like that on a daily basic would ruin their diet. Not that they never had any, mostly for someone's birthday.

"You're ice cream's melting," said Celine.

"Oh…" the redhead gasped. She finally noticed the line of blue ice cream trailing down her hand.

"I'll get a napkin," Celine said.

Aether tore off a piece of ice cream, and gasped once it hit her tongue. It was a perfect blend of sweet and salty.

Celine returned with a few napkin's in hand, and sat down beside Aether. She couldn't quite pin down this pink haired girl. She seemed a bit bold, and didn't have a problem helping a complete stranger. Yet by her appearance, her sickly appearance, it was like she lived in less than ideal circumstances. But, she lived in a castle, and her dad was an important figure. At most, he just didn't have time for Celine.

"Celine," the girl's head shot up to see an older man in the same uniform Vincent was in. "I though you were told not to leave the castle with these monster out."

"Sorry, Aeleus," Celine sighed. "I didn't intend on being gone for so long but…"

"I'm sorry," Aether said looking up at the man. "Did I keep Celine from something?"

The pinkette shook her head. "It was my fault for leaving in the first place. I'll see you later, Aether."

"Uh… Yeah…"

Celine tossed her ice cream stick into the waste bin, then followed close behind Aeleus. Aether was fully prepared to finish her ice cream on her own. It was probably for the best that Celine stay at home where there was some form of protection against the Unversed. "Aether!" Celine shouted suddenly.

Green eyes met orange-yellow. Celine looked down right frightened. Her eyes widened, face deathly pale, and her hands were trembling. "What is it?" Aether asked, rising to her feet.

Aeleus' hand rested on Celine's shoulder. She looked up at the man, who shook his head. "It's…" Celine's voice trailed off. "It's nothing…"

Aether stared at the pink haired girl, confused, as she walked off with Aeleus.

* * *

Aether didn't really understand comfort food in the past. Now it makes a lot of sense. It kind of took her mind off of her friends and Master. Thought Celine probably had something to do with that.

Walking around the town, Aether debated with herself on where to go now. Going home wasn't an option. Staying here probably wasn't either. See more worlds? Probably.

A scream caught her attention. A little girl stood cowering as the Unversed surrounded her. Aether wasted no time, running to the girl's aid. She held her hand out in front of her, and muttered something that sounded like 'Fire!'

A puff of fire appeared in front of her hand, setting the nearest Unversed ablaze. _'Black Magic…' _Aether thought.

Dismissing the thought, Aether whacked an Unversed upside the head, causing it to disintegrate. "Help me out?" she asked the girl.

"Uh-huh," she nodded.

The girl had a bit learning a head of her, but she had some raw talent in Black Magic. It was a good help against these Unversed. Despite the girl's earlier fear, she was actually really pumped when the last of the Unversed were destroyed. "All right! That was so cool!" she cheered pumping the first.

"That was some pretty decent magic there," Aether commented, dismissing her sword.

"Thanks!" the little girl beamed. "The local wizard's teaching me."

She looked about six, in a blue t-shirt with a red stripe around her chest, a pair of Capri pants, and red high tops. Her waist-length hair was blue, with a couple of locks in front, framing her face. She had on a Moogle backpack. On her head, she wore a red newsboy cap. But, what caught Aether's attention were here eyes. Her right eye was blue, and the left was green. Aether heard of this sort of thing, but never thought she'd see it herself.

"I'm Morgan," the girl introduced. "I'm working to be Black Mage."

"That's cool," Aether smiled, kneeling down to meet her. "My name's Aether."

"Say… Aether?" Morgan sift from side to side.

"Yeah?"

"Can you… can you help me find my brother? He was late picking me up, and I thought I could find him on my own, but…"

"Those things showed up?" asked Aether. Morgan nodded, yes. "Okay. Do you know where we can find him?"

"I have an idea. Follow me."

Morgan took off, farther and father into town. Eventually, it got to the point where Aether had a sinking suspicion about where they were headed. The little girl explained that her parents didn't like her going off on her own, so her older brother, and his friend by extension, was supposed to pick her up and watch her after practice with a wizard. Her brother and his friend never showed up when they were supposed to.

"They got this crazy idea in their head about breaking into the castle," explained Morgan.

"Why?" asked Aether.

The little girl looked up with a questioning look. "Well, Ansem the Wise and his apprentices have these super, super top-secret experiments," Morgan explained. "Like none of them are supposed to talk about it to the people outside. My friend, Ienzo is one of h is apprentices, and even he won't talk about them to me."

"So you're brother and his friend wanted to find out?"

"Yup," nodded Morgan. "I keep telling them they're not gonna make it. I _think _my brother agrees with me, but he's looking for a little excitement."

Now, Aether was curious. What kind of experiment could they be doing that was so secretive? Wait, didn't Celine just say she lived a the castle, and that her dad was the sage-king? She had to know. But, on the other hand, if Morgan's friend wouldn't talk about what they were doing, then odds were Celine wouldn't either.

Although Aether had to wonder what happened when Celine's dad took a new apprentice. Did they have to sign some sort of non-disclosure agreement? The thought alone was kind of amusing to her.

Morgan pulled to a stop at the foot of a large flight of stairs leading up to the castle. Hardly a minute passed, until faint yelling could be heard. The little girl lead Aether up the stairs. They found a black-haired man, in the standard uniform, carrying a couple of teenaged boys out by the backs of their collars.

One of the boy's had blue hair, and green eyes. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and appeared to be more annoyed than anything else. Obviously, this one was Morgan's older brother. The other boy, on the other had, had spiky red hair, and green eyes. He was squirming in the man's grip, shouting generic taunts that fell upon death ears.

The man tossed the boys onto the ground, then headed back up the stairs. This was such a non-issue to him, he might as well had just swatted a fly away. "I totally, showed him," the red haired boy said, sitting up.

"If that's what you have to tell yourself to sleep tonight," Morgan's brother sighed.

"You're late," Morgan said, walking up to the boys. Her arms were crossed over her chest.

"Did you hear something, Isa?" asked the red haired boy. "I thought I heard a little pest buzzing. Must've been just me."

"Yeah, well, this pest knows how to get mom's on her side."

"Speaking of mom," Isa stood up, staring at his sister. "Didn't mom say not to go off on your own."

"But I didn't!" Morgan argued. She rushed over to Aether. She grabbed the older girl by the arm, and lead her up to the boys. "She brought me."

"You do know meeting a complete stranger doesn't help much either," the red haired boy pointed out.

"We introduced ourselves."

"Still," said Isa. "We shouldn't talk to strange people."

"We talk to Lea, who's stranger than that?"

"Hey!"

She knew she probably shouldn't have laughed. But Aether found it really difficult to keep a straight face. The comradely between the three was really nice to see after her fall out with her friends. "I'm sorry, I probably should have thought of stranger dangers beforehand," said Aether.

"No, it's no problem," Isa sighed. "Thank you for helping my sister."

"My pleasure," she smiled, deciding to take her leave.

Though, she wouldn't be going that far. "You're leavening already?" the red haired boy asked.

"Lea…" an exasperated Isa sighed.

"Huh?" Aether uttered, confused.

"Come on," Lea said. Seemingly out of nowhere, he brought out two Frisbees with a fire emblem on them. "You and me! Right here, right now."

She smiled as the realization hit her. Sinking down into a fighting stance, Lea proceeded to do the same. Morgan stood beside Isa on the sideline, bouncing in anticipation.

The first few minutes consisted of mostly strikes and blocks, strikes and blocks. Lea leaped back, tossing one of his freebies at Aether. She blocked the attack by shielded her face with her arms. It hurt a little more than she anticipated. "Nice arm there," she commented.

"Hey, don't expect me to go easy on your for being a girl," Lea replied with a shrug.

"Funny," Aether said, picking up the fallen Frisbee. "I was going to say the same thing about you."

She threw the Frisbee in his direction. Lea managed to doge it, just barely. "That's hitting a little below the belt, don't you think?" he asked.

Aether broke forward, aiming for a kick at Lea's crotch. He blocked it, allowing Aether to whip around, connecting her elbow with the side of his head. Lea recovered quickly, and tossed both Frisbees at Aether. One of them grazed her ear, prompting a wince from her. She dropped to the ground, performing a sweep kick, and knocking Lea off his feet. "Aether wins!" Moran said cheerfully.

"From the outside perspective, it was," Lea said, pulling himself back up on uneasy legs. "But anyone else could see that it was a stalemate."

"Which is nice way of saying you lost."

Sighing, Lea looked back at Aether. "Don't get a younger sibling. They're always seem like a good idea until they learn to talk back."

"Except your not the one who lives with her," Isa pointed out.

Aether giggled softly. "I'll keep that in mind," she smiled.

"Anyway, we need to get going."

"Do we have to?" Morgan whined.

"It's getting late."

"Aether, right?" Lea asked, as he picked up his Frisbees.

"Huh? Yeah," she nodded.

"Let's try to catch up a little later."

"Oh. Really?"

"No, I'm lying, yeah, really," he said, giving her a playful whack on the back of a head. "We're friend, right?"

Aether smiled. "Right."

"Get it memorized, already."

"Is that supposed to be your catcphrase?" Aether asked laughing. "It's not gonna catch you."

"We'll see," Lea replied grinning.

"Thank again," Isa said as he walked past her. "Morgan, come on."

"Coming," the little girl said following her older brother. She turned back around, waving at Aether. "Bye!"

The three walked off, leaving Aether feeling a bit lighter. It had to be nice to know who you could trust.

She slid her hands into her pants pockets, meeting the Wayfinder in one, but something else in the other. Oh, right. The Disney Town pass. Aether pulled the pass out of her pocket. "Why not?" she thought out loud.

Looks like she had a destination.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Ah, the foreshadowing in this chapter.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight  
****Disney Town**

Aether landed in a very colorful town. Everything looked so whimsical, warm, and inviting. There were decorative banners and ribbons of warm colors hung up on the buildings and lamppost. Aether could already feel her troubles melt away, for the time being anyway. _'I wonder what's going on thought,' _she thought. _'It looks like some kind of festival or block party.'_

She felt something brush up against her pant leg. Looking down, Aether saw a golden-yellow dog sniffing her. "What's you're name?" she asked sinking down to his level. "You look like a friendly, guy, don't you?"

Aether starched the back of the dog's hear, which he seemed to enjoy. She always wanted a dog, or ferret, but the Master wouldn't allow animals into the castle, they were a distraction. Aether checked the gold tag on the dog's green collar; 'Pluto.' "Okay, Pluto," said Aether. "Do you know where I can find anyone?"

Pluto began nodding his head furiously. With his mouth opened it actually sounded like he was saying _'yeah, yeah, yeah!'_ Wagging his tail, Pluto sniffed the ground, searching for something, but ran into a very large cat dressed in a skin-tight white, orange, and gold leotard and mask. "Ta-da! Wearin' the mask of peace and hope… comes the fearless defender and hero of this town! It is me - Captain Justice!"

Aether immediately turned on her heel and began walking in the opposite direction. She was a little panicked. She heard about these loonies from the shop owners back home. They try to get all touchy feely with you, until they murder you from behind. _'If I can't see him, he's not there,'_ she recited a mental mantra. _'If I can't see him he's on there! If I can't see him, he's not there!' _

"Hey, hold up!" Captain Justice said suddenly appearing in front of Aether. He struck a, rather generic, pose. "What? Never seen a superhero before?"

"Uh…" she breathed out, studding the cat in front of her. "Well… with your size, and that outfit, I would've thought you were a wrestler…"

"Wha?!" the cat gasped, loosing his focus, and nearly lost his balance. "Does this shining example of heroism look like a wrestler to you?!"

"I just said you do…"

"Is that anyway to talk to a bona fide hero when he's offerin' you help?"

Aether's eyes met with Pluto. The dog looked rather unimpressed to match with Aether's unease. At this right, she just _might_ need an adult. "I don't need help," she said with a shake of her head. "I was just…"

What _was_ she doing exactly? She wasn't chasing after Terra anymore. And this mission wasn't really for her. If Aqua were here, she probably would have taken Aether home. She wasn't ready for that, not yet, anyway.

"I was just browsing," Aether finished. She thought for a moment. "Although you _could_ tell me what's going on. Everything looks a bit festive, so, there's gotta be something going on today, right?"

"That's all?" the cat complained.

"Yup."

"Well, we got the Dream Festival goin' on today," explained Captain Justice. "Hence all them decretory whatsitz and carnival dohickeies."

Aether thought as much, but this world seemed so colorful she could have easily been wrong. It just showed how much she knew about this world. "Kay, thanks," she said, turning around.

"And missy, don't you go forgetting, just who helped you out."

"I wont…"

'_Don't really think I could if I tried,'_ thought Aether.

Her intention was just to walk around town and do a little sight-seeing. If this Captain Justice was to be believed, there might be a few things to see in this town. She wouldn't get the chance to. A couple of Flood Unversed appeared from one of the alleyways. Aether looked up at the cat behind her. "Are you going to get them, or should I?" she asked him.

Captain Justice looked rather panicked, jittery. He held a hand up to his ear. "What's that?" he asked. "I think I hear a cute puppy up a tree. Not to worry, Captain Justice is on case!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Aether muttered as the large cat ran off. Her Keyblade appeared in her hands, and she sighed, "Even in this world…"

She played it simple when dealing with these Unversed. They were the basic Flood's, common, and really, nothing to worry about. Aether was used to them at this point. When the last of them were gone, Aether noticed shreds of paper on the ground.

She bent down t o pick one up. It looked like sheet music. What did Unversed want with something like that? Well, aside from that Symphony Master. "Oh, dear," someone said, causing Aether to jump.

Standing behind her was an anthropomorphic cow and a female mouse. The mouse was dressed in pink and red gown with a golden tiara with a ruby mouse-head silhouette. The cow was in yellow slacks with a pale-yellow shirt, and a cowbell around her neck. "Are these yours?" Aether asked handing the shredded papers to the cow. "Sorry, I didn't realize they had them until it was too late."

"It's okay," said the mouse, reassuringly. "You tried, that's all that matters. Isn't that right, Clarabelle?"

"Well, yes, it is," the cow, Clarabelle agreed. "But now we don't have our music for the show."

Aether's brow creased in confusion. She assumed it was for a band or orchestra, so why would they just have _one_ sheet of music on them? "Well… can't you put it back together?" she asked.

"I would," Clarabelle said, trying to put the pieces together. "But it looks like we're missing a few pieces to this one. Sorry, Queen Minnie."

"It's all right, Clarabelle," said Minnie. "Let's be glad no one was hurt. Thought… everyone was looking forward to the show."

"Isn't there anything else you can use?" asked Aether.

"Well, you see…"

"Oh, I'm Aether, your Highness," she said, curtsying.

"Well, you see, Aether," said Queen Minnie. "For the Dream Festival, the music the orchestra plays is usually written just for the festival."

"So, then shouldn't the guy who wrote it have a copy?"

"I'm afraid not," a defeated Clarabelle said. "He left us only one copy, then left to take care of some business."

The Queen sighed. It seemed like she was a little stressed, though she wasn't complaining. Well, maybe not stressed, but definitely distracted. If Aether had to guess, she might be close to the person who first wrote the music. "Is there anything I can do?" asked Aether.

"Actually, I'm glad you asked," Clarabelle said, wrapping an arm around Aether's shoulder. "You look like you've been around town, Aether, you've gotta hear different genre's right?"

Aether's face paled. She couldn't have been asking what she thought she was. "Clarabelle," Queen Minnie said firmly. "I think Aether's helped enough."

"No, it's no problem," Aether said without thinking. "I think I can create something… with a little help."

"Of _course_, dear," said Clarabelle. She lead Aether to a stage where three rows of chairs, and instruments safe in their cases. "If we both put our head's together, we should be able to work something out."

It wasn't as though Aether had never played before. She was familiar with the piano from school recitals, and festivals back home. As the Master said, there would be a time when each of his apprentices would have to choose to stay and guard the Land of Departure, or travels the worlds to expand their horizons. Should they choose the former, it was important to get involved with the community. Music recitals just happened to be Aether's favorite way.

But, she had never _written_ music before. Never mind something for an orchestra. And since this was the _Dream_ Festival Aether assumed they wanted something that sounded like a dream. If dreams had an theme, this is what it would sound like. Something that could almost lull a person to sleep, something relaxing.

She decided, that the primary instruments would be strings, the piano, and a few choice wind instruments. Clarabelle helped Aether write out separate copies for the different instruments.

Once that was done, the performers gathered around for rehearsal. Apparently, learning something last minute wasn't all that new. They were usually given a week in advance to practice on their own before a full rehearsal the day of. Amazingly, usually worked out pretty well. Usually.

Clarabelle was quite confident in their work, though Aether just wanted to crawl in a hole and burry herself. She stood beside Queen Minnie and Pluto while Clarabelle conducted the orchestra. A soft, calming melody played out on the piano, which was soon followed by the string and wind instruments.

The crowd was respectfully silent during the piece. Aether wasn't quite sure that was good or not. Did she prefer the silence, or people murmuring and squirming? Well, she would have like _something_, to happen.

When the piece ended applause erupted from the crowd. Clarabelle took a bow, then gestured to the orchestra. "That was wonderful," said Queen Minnie. "Like being in a dream. It was wonderful Aether."

The red haired girl blushed. "Well… I had help," she said.

"But it was mostly you," Clarabelle said, walking up to them. "Aether, honey, you were the one with the stroke of inspiration. You knew what would be the best way to deliver it. You knew what it would sound like in the end. You definitely have my vote."

"Vote?" a confused Aether asked.

"For the Million Dreams Award."

"Huh?"

"It's a popular event of the Dream Festival," explained Queen Minnie. "Everyone in town votes for who we think is the most exemplary citizen."

"But then you get hooligans like Pete," Clarabelle said in distaste. Her arms crossed over her chest.

"Pete?" asked Aether.

"Just the local trouble maker. He knows, with his reputation, no one will vote for him. So he's trying to pass himself as a hero. Like he could fool anyone. It's just the prize he's after."

"Ooh," Aether breathed out, remembering her rather awkward encounter with Captain Justice, or rather, Pete. "So _that's_ what it was about."

"It's rather sad when you think about it," said Queen Minnie. "The award is supposed to show our appreciation for one another."

"Yeah, it is…" sighed Aether.

* * *

A little while later, Aether stood amongst the crowd as Queen Minnie and her best friend, and the duchess, Daisy went over the ballads for the Million Dream Award. Pete waited away from the crow, under a nearby gazebo. "Who do ya think's gonna with this years Million Dream Award?" asked Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle's on-again, off-again boyfriend.

"Hopefully, the one I voted for," Clarabelle told him.

"Oh, boy!" cheered a chipmunk called Chip. "I hope it's the guy I voted for!"

"I voted for him, too!" Chip's friend, Dale added, leaping into the air.

To the far right, triplet ducks talked amongst themselves. "Now we got so much business at the shop," Huey told his brothers. "Maybe we'll be number one!"

"Unca Scrooge surely would be proud of us if we actually won," Dewey added.

"Yeah," Louie said in agreement. "And I be Unca Donald would be pretty surprised, too."

"Hello, everyone," Minnie said, walking onto the stage with, Daisy. "Thank you for waiting. Now it's time to begin the main event of our Dream Festival - the Million Dream Award presentation."

"Heh! Just skip to the part where you say my name," Pete said to himself. "This is a shoo-in!"

"Oh, how every exciting," smiled Queen Minnie. "This year we have multiple winners. The Million Dreams Award goes to… Ventus, Aqua, Terra, and Aether. All four of you!"

"Huh?!" Aether gasped. "When where Aqua, Ven and Terra here?!"

"Whaddya mean?!" Pete shouted. He charged up to the podium, hopped up, and approached Minnie. "There's gotta be a mistake. Everybody voted for Captain Justice. I made sure! Now go on, tell her."

He scanned through the small crowd. No response. Some of them even turned their backs to him. When it sunk in Pete's body shook slightly. "Better try the other one," he muttered to himself. The cat disappeared behind the curtain, returning moments later wearing a black and purple version of his jumpsuit. "The rouge racer, Captain Dark!"

'_We need an adult!' _Aether shuttered.

"Pete, we counted the votes carefully," said Minnie. Her tone was firm, but at the same time she was trying to be gentle. A ruler that was trying to be firm but fair. "Ventus, Aqua, Terra, and Aether won. Oh, Pete, I think you tried to do something good, but you where doing it for the wrong reasons, and you went about it the wrong way. Still, a couple of citizen's _must_ have thought you had some goodness in you, because you actually got a few votes. They knew you where looking out for them."

"Big whoop!" scoffed Pete. "I don't need their lousy votes. Just cough up my prize!"

"Pete!" Minnie shouted, her patients finally running thin. "They voted for you because they believe in you and care about you! How could you look down on that? I've tried to forgive a lot of things you've done, but this is too much. Now you've finally crossed the line."

"Like that matters to me. Besides, what are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm going to let you cool off for a while. Guards!"

"A half-dozen magic brooms marched up to the stage. Surprisingly, they managed to grab a hold of Pete, who began fussing, then carried him off. "Now, there's something you don't see everyday…" Aether said completely deadpan.

"Now," Minnie breathed out, her own temper simmering down. "Shall we continue the ceremony? Would the winners, Ventus, Aqua, Terra, and Aether, please come up and join me on stage?"

Aether walked up onstage beside Minnie and Daisy. The mouse Queen scanned the crowd. "Oh, dear," she murmured. "It looks like our other three winners couldn't make it here today."

"I must've just missed them," Aether sighed. Why were they just barely missing each other in each world? While she wasn't sure about Terra and Aqua, she would've liked to have a spend a little time with Ven.

"Perhaps you could accept the reward on their behalf?" Minnie suggested. "After all, you've been so kind to so many here at the Dream Festival. So now, I hereby present the Million Dreams Award… as a token of how much you matter to us. Congratulations!"

The crowd cheered, which caused Aether to smile. The people seemed to really appreciate acts of kindness, even when it came from people they hardly knew. Though it made Aether wonder what the other's did to get the award, too, but she could worry about that later. "As an extra treat," Minnie continued. An ice cream treat suddenly appeared in her gloved hands. "We've created something special - and ice cream flavor just for you. DoReMi Harmony Ice Cream!"

Aether would be the first to confess, it looked mouth-watering. It contained of a scoop of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream in bowl made of fried bread. On either side of the bowl was an eighth note made of red velvet wafers. Lining the dish was a small array of fruits, bananas, oranges, strawberries, and kiwi. And drizzled on the ice cream was caramel syrup, tiny bits of peanuts, and blueberries.

"I wish I had my own ice cream flavor," said Horace.

"What's it taste like?" asked Chip.

"Go on, try it!" Dale urged excitedly.

Aether scooped up a bit of ice cream and fruit with one of the red velvet eighth notes and popped it into her mouth. There was a wonderful blend of the fruit, ice cream, and caramel. It really lived up to the 'harmony' in it's name. "Wow," Aether exhaled. "I love it!"

It was really nice to know that the people here could care about a complete stranger this much. What a wonderful world this was.

* * *

"Who does she think she is?!" Pete growled. Queen Minnie banished him to the Lanes Between after his little stunt. "Dumpin' me in a place like this? Well, I'll just burst outta here and-"

"Quiet fool," a smooth female voice scoffed. "You do not posses that kind of power."

"Who… Who's there?!" Pete shouted. "Show yourself!"

"That's enough. Stop your sniveling and heed my words."

"Um… okay," he said crossing his arm's over his chest.

"Do exactly as I say, I may decide to release you from your prison.""Really?! Oh, then you can count on me. Just get me outta here, and you can tell me what to do!"

"A very wise choice indeed," the woman said as a corridor appeared behind the large cat. "With your help, soon every world in existence will all be mine!"

* * *

**Authors Note:** Couple things to note about this chapter.

- If anyone thought so, yes, the music Aether "wrote" (and I use the biggest quotation marks possible) is the BbS version of 'Dearly Beloved.'

- If Aether were canon, Aqua would still be the last at Disney Town, thus hers would be the true ending.

- I originally was going to use one of the ice creams featured in the game for Aether's, Spark Lemon specifically. DoReMi Harmony (bask in the glory that is my stupid names!) kinda came to me when I was craving a fruit salad.

- Am I the only one waiting for a proper appearance from Clarabelle Cow… and Professor Ludwig von Drake…and Humphrey the Bear…


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine  
****Olympus Coliseum**

In school Aether learned about warriors and the coliseum. How the Land of Departure used to use a coliseum as a sort of black-market arena for people to test their strength, and earn boatloads of munny. Until an order of Keyblade wielders arrived and the world began living rather honorably.

This world very much reminded Aether of that history class. She found herself in front of a stone building with a couple of statues with gladiators crossing swords. On the upside, this really wasn't the black-market arena Aether pictured in school.

To her surprise, a number of Unversed appeared in front of her. Immediately, her Keyblade weighted down in her hand. "Aether," someone said, startling the girl in question. Before she knew it, Aqua walked up to her side, with her own weapon in hand. "I though you were heading home."

"I… got lost," Aether lied. And pretty blatantly, she thought.

Suddenly, if not almost randomly, a short, chubby satyr appeared in front of them. The satyr struck a few fighting stances, most of them without rhyme or reason. "Stand back, sweetcheeks," he said. "I'll take care of this."

"I'm pretty sure he's talking to you," Aether told Aqua, rubbing the back of her head.

Though her friendship with Aqua, Aether was a little perplexed. In their teen years Aether had seen the downsides to being as well-endowed as Aqua. But that never stopped Aether from wishing for another few centimeters on her chest.

This wasn't the first time this sort of thing happened. Well, okay, no one's ever attempted to fight off monsters on their own for Aqua. But there has been more than one occasion when the girls went out to pick up something, and a boy offered to pay for them. Never mind that Aether was the one paying, or that Aqua wouldn't take advantage of it.

The satyr looked up at the large Unversed in the center. While Aether had to credit the satyr in that he wasn't the 'scream-in-an-over-the-top-manner' type, but he still turned on his hooves and ran in the opposite direction. "Herc," cried the satyr. "They're all yours!"

Seconds later a teenaged boy, somewhere between Aether and Aqua's ages, ran up to them. He had auburn hair, blue eyes, and was dressed in a white toga. Aether initially thought he was gutsy for fighting these things unarmed.

She would eat her words pretty fast. The boy was strong, incredibly so. He didn't need a weapon with strength like that. Even the bigger, stronger Unversed wasn't much of a problem with the boy at their side.

The three stood back to back, waiting for something to pop back out. "Oy! Those wackos almost made grydos outta me!" the satyr complained.

"Well, maybe if you weren't trying to show off!" Herc argued.

"Who asked you, kid? You'll understand when you're older."

"And stronger… strong enough to be a hero."

"You think being strong is the same as being a hero?" Aqua asked him.

"Sure - mostly," Herc said with a slight shrug. "Look how strong Terra is, and he's champion!"

"Terra was here?" Aether asked.

She really didn't know what to do if she saw Terra again. Aqua looked like she either believed her obvious lie, or she was just ignoring the Master's order for now. After Aether put in that much faith in Terra, only to be proven wrong in one of the worst ways. He may not have confirmed it, but he never denied it either. Aether really didn't know what to do.

"So, sugarcakes," the satyr said, looking back up at Aqua. "You got nay plans for later? You know, I've trained a few heroes in my time. Maybe I could recite ya a little epic poetry."

'_Aren't epic poetries kidna lengthy?' _Aether thought.

"Do you really know Terra?" Aqua asked him.

"Of course I do," the satyr said begrudgingly. "He's the local hero everyone's gaga for - Oh, now I get it. You're one of his friends. Everywhere I got it's Terra-this, Terra-that… More like Terra-bull."

"Oh, no," Aqua shook her head. "You see, I just want to track him down."

Okay, so maybe Aqua hasn't lightened up at all. "Yeah, tell me about it, sister," the satyr walked past the girls and the boys. "You and the rest of Greece! Kid show's up outta nowhere… goes and wins the first Games he ever enters, dazzling the whole town then the nudnik up and vanishes!"

"Everybody's saying Terra's the real thing," the auburn haired boy said. "A true hero. I can't wait till I'm that tough."

"Pfft, right," scoffed the satyr. "He's so tough he turned the last schlemiel into a raving yahoo."

"Come on, Phil," said the boy. "Be nice."

"So, he already left?" asked Aether. Should she have been happy about that?

"Well, if he's not here…" Aqua muttered, gripping her chin.

"Whoa, not so fast," Phil said walking back up to them. "He may not be here now, but ya never know. He could always decide he's gonna show up for the Games."

"Yeah," the boy agreed. "To defend his title."

"And if you enter, there's always a chance you might run into him. I got an idea, I'll sign you up myself. And if you need a trainer, I'd be more than happy to put your through the ropes."

"But Phil," Herc argued, panicking. "I had to practically beg you to agree to train me."

"Shh! Pipe down kid!" Phil barked. "You and she ain't got the same attributes, if you know what I mean."

'_Am I even here?' _Aether thought irritable. _'Then again…'_

Aqua probably wouldn't let Aether sign up for the Games. And if she had to go out on a limb, this wasn't a tag-team thing. Aether would probably sit on the side-lines cheering for her. Well, assuming Aqua agreed with all this.

"You know, you're right," said Aqua. "Please sign me up for the Games. My name is Aqua, this is Aether. Nice to meet you."

"Hi," said Aether.

"Likewise," said Phil. "Now, let's start with a few basics-"

"Thanks, but I won't need a trainer," Aqua declined politely.

"Bah! Women - never changes! So I suppose ya still want me to go and get you signed up. Meet me at the vestibule when you're ready."

Phil headed into the vestibule with Herc. The satyr was giving the boy instructions, and advise. Obviously a trainer and his trainee. It made Aether wonder if Phil had ever been a contender years ago. An image of Phil dressed in gladiator armor with a shield twice his size popped into her head. The though almost made her laugh.

"Aether," Aqua said softly, turning to her.

"Yeah, yeah, I got the drill," the redhead said bitterly. "'Aether, you can't sign up for the games.' 'Aether it's too dangerous.' 'Aether I'm going to continue to ignore your strength.' I got it last time."

"If you got it, then why aren't you home?" Aqua asked firmly.

"Well, if you can still be on your soapbox, then I can still be on mine."

* * *

Aether sat on the sidelines as Aqua battled through round after round of Unversed. How they managed to control this many Unversed, but she was impressed with their assortment. Various Unversed from previous encounters, a couple of stronger ones.

Naturally Aqua showed off her magical abilities. Launching light, fire, ice, and the likes at the Unversed. Aether probably should have been cheering on Aqua, but if she was still bent on sending her and Ven home, so Aether was going to be a grumpy puss.

Ten rounds passed, each one timed, though Aether completely forgot about that fact. Aqua cleared through each round long before the timer ran out. "All that's left is the final," Aqua said to herself. She walked up to Aether's side with Phil close at her heels. "And still no sign of Terra…"

"Maybe that's for the best," Aether mumbled. "If you and the Master have that little faith in him."

Aqua shot a quick glance at her. "The guy I'm supposed to fight is someone named Zack," she said. Turning around to ask Phil something, Aqua came face-to-face with a boy with wild black hair, beautiful blue eyes, dressed in blue and silver armor.

"Aqua, right?" the boy asked quickly.

"The heck did you come from?!" Aether asked.

"Hey, I'm Zack. Your opponent in the final. Man, finally! Once I beat you, I get to take on Terra!"

'_What was in your coffee this morning?' _Aether though.

"What do you mean about Terra?" she asked out loud. "I'm Aether, by the way."

"Are you saying there's another match after the final?" Aqua questioned.

"I guess you didn't get the memo," said Zack. He looked over his shoulder at Phil. "Hey, Phil! Would you tell her the rules?"

Grunting in irritation, Phil paced back and forth. "Fine, here's how it is," he said. "The Games are divided into two brackets - you got your East, you got your West. The winners from each bracket face off in the championship match. Now, right now you're competing in the East and we got no idea about on the other side. For all we know, you boy, Terra could be cruisin' though over in the West."

"Then I shouldn't be fighting matches here," Aqua concluded. "I should be looking for him over there."

Aether could feel her face head up in anger. Ven was completely right about Aqua back in Radiant Garden. The title of Master obscured her trust in her friends. But… Terra did take the Princess heart, so maybe Aqua was justified. Still, she didn't need to hold her and Ven's hands like they were three. Besides, from the sounds of it, all Terra was doing was competing in the Games.

"No… you,, uh…can't!" Phil stuttered. "It's not allowed."

Aqua topped in her tracks. She glanced over her shoulder at the satyr. "Athletes are expressly forbidden from watchin' matches in the other bracket."

"Did he just make that up?" Herc asked Zack in a hushed tone.

"How should I know?" the black haired boy shrugged. "_You're_ his trainee."

"Sound's like he did," said Aether.

"Alright, fine!" Phil shot back. He marched up to Aqua. "Look, you gotta just stay and fight this match. The two athletes I entered defaulted before they made it to the top. Give a guy a break, I got a reputation."

Herc and Zack exchanged looks. Both of them where under the impression that Phil was a disgraced trainer of heroes after a disaster with Achilles. Well, until Herc came to find him, that is. What reputation did Phil have anymore? Well, aside from the disgraced trainer part. "Hey, do it for us, too," Zack offered.

"Hey, if she doesn't can I take her place?" Aether asked.

Aqua thought for a moment. Looks like the Games would be thrown out of whack if she dropped off now. "All right, then," she said. "I'll finish what I started."

"You will?" Phil asked excitedly. "The gods are smilin' on me today! I'll be waiting for ya at the vestibule."

"A match between Zack, and Aqua?" Herc asked himself. "This I can't miss."

"Ix-nay on the atchin'-way," said Phil. "You got trainin' to complete."

"Oh, that's right…" the boy sighed in a disappointment. "Well, good luck, guys. I'll see you around."

Aether watched Herc rush off. The dilemma everyone had to face when training towards a goal; having a little down time, or working on your goal. But, Herc's heart seemed to be in the right place, Aether was pretty sure he would be a great hero one day.

"Aqua, give it your best out there," Zack said, approaching his opponent.

"You too."

"I'm so fired up!" Zack beamed, performing a few squats.

Tilting her head to the side, Aether stood beside Zack, and began mimicking his movements. "No, you gotta bend your knees a bit more," the black haired boy advised her.

"Like this?" Aether asked, crouching down lower, already she could feel the burn on her abs and thigh muscles.

"Zack," Aqua spoke up. "Terra is a friend of ours. How exactly do you know him?"

"He saved my life," he explained, still performing his squats. "During the last Games… this dude named Hades tried to make Terra his pawn of darkness… and he sued me to do it. He had some sort of magic or something that made me crazy, gave me… weird powers that I turned against Terra."

Zack paused for a good minute. He stood up straight, his look bounced from Aqua, to Aether. "You know what? Terra freed me," he finished. "And he didn't need the darkness to do it."

Aether nearly lost her balance. Terra didn't that, and without the use of darkness? That was good. There was still hope for Terra to turn things around. But did that really change the fact that he took someone's heart, and attacked an old woman? Or the fact that he lied to her?

* * *

Aether sat at the sidelines as Aqua and Zack exchanged a few words. He pulled his sword out of it's sheath. Zack was the first one to make a move. The red haired girl couldn't help but notice that Zack seemed like a weird merger of Terra and Ven. Take Ven's personality, and Terra's strength.

But, that strength wasn't doing Zack much good. The poor guy never got a hit on Aqua, and was being bombarded her Spell Waver, and Blade Charge. Aqua's final blow sent Zack flying backwards. His sword left his hand, and he was thrown onto his back. "Ugh, I lost!" he cried. He flipped back onto his feet. "I've got a long way to go if I'm gonna be a hero."

'_Fast recovery…' _Aether though, arching a brow.

The sent of smoke and brimstone caught her attention. A couple of yards away from Zack and Aqua, a towering man with blue skin in a black toga appeared. Blue flames danced on the top of his head, serving as his hair. "Really," the guy began, unimpressed. "It's you?"

Aether leaped up from her seat and ran up to Aqua and Zack. "Here I thought I'd drop in to see which muscle-head was up next," the man said, walking up to the group. "And holy hydras! It's just a little girl, a little lassie, a little bluebird."

"Hades!" Zack shot angrily.

"I'm sorry," Hades turned to Zack. "Is that a mosquito? Where'd I put that bug spray?"

"Mosquito?!"

Aether crossed her arms, glancing at Hades. This guy, god, he was a fast talker, like he was trying to sell something. Hard to believe this was the guy Zack described earlier. "So you're the one who used Zack," she said. "Then tried to get Terra to submit to the darkness."

"So I take it your acquainted with the spineless chickenheart."

"You say about my friend who managed to beat you at your own game. Without the darkness."

"Funny, ya know, 'cause I heard differently," said Hades. "Ya sea, it was Chickenheart who asked me for a little, shall we say… _instruction_ on how to use darkness in the first place."

Dropping her arms, Aether growled. She didn't know who she was angrier at, at the moment. Hades for implying that Terra would do such a thing, or that Terra would do that in the first place. "And he was close to doing it, too," Hades continued. "When the sap went and got cold feet."

At the last bit, the flames on his head turned for orange and yellow, then grew covering his back, and shoulders. "Now if that ain't cowardly," the god of the underworld finished. "I don't know what is. But you, my little bluebird, why not flit over here and demonstrate some real courage for the winning team?"

"The darkness doesn't interest me!" Aqua shot back.

"Well, that was rude. A 'no thank you, your godliness' might've sufficed. Fortunately, I still get to - ahem - destroy you. Rules say you face me next. And I have a whole lot of darkness with your name on it!"

"Rules say, or you say?" Aether asked darkly.

"That's the thing about being a god, goldfinch, you get to make the rules. Kinda comes with the divine powers and what not."

"Doesn't sound very godly if you manipulate like that," Zack pointed out.

"Obviously you've never seen baby brother Zeus' sexcapades," Hades replied dully as he disappeared. "King of Olympus, lades and gents."

"Man," Zack growled begrudgingly. "If only I were up against him."

He walked up to Aqua, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You gotta avenge me and Terra!"

"I will," Aqua nodded.

* * *

She sat on the bleachers beside Zack. There was no way he was going to miss Aqua's battle against Hades. The air in the coliseum seemed to have changed since the fight against Zack. The tension was apparent, it wasn't often someone would face against a god, let alone the lord of the dead.

"Do you know what Hades'll throw at her?" asked Aether.

"No idea, really," Zack admitted. Hugging himself, he shuttered. "Did it just get colder?"

The ground began to rumble. A pair of large, icy claws gripped either side of the coliseum walls. A powerful being made of solid ice stepped over the wall. Hades appeared at the creatures feet. "I never said it was one-on-one," the lord of the dead said casually.

"No fair, Hades!" Zack shouted.

"I suppose that's the rules," Aqua said, readying her Keyblade. It was like the ice Titan was hardly an issue.

"'Rule Number Two: Combatants may call for backup.' Maybe you better call yours, bluebird."

Leaping off her seat, Aether ran up to Aqua's side, summoning her Keyblade. "She's right her!"

"Aether," Aqua said in a hushed tone.

"Don't tell me what I think you're about to tell me," Aether countered. "We're dealing with this thing, and a god, you need back-up!"

The sensible part of Aqua wanted to tell Aether to go back, and get to safety with Zack. That this match probably wouldn't count if Aether helped her. But, on the other hand, this match probably didn't count once Hades brought the Titan with him. "All right," she sighed.

"Goldfinch wants to join in?" Hades asked rhetorically. "Fine. The outcome will remain the same."

A smirk played on Aether's lips. So, they were up against fire and ice. What better way to fight fire and ice, than with ice and fire? In a flash Aether's six multicolored swords appeared behind her. She grabbed the red sword, holding it in a reverse grip. "I'll take the icicle," said Aether.

"Right," said Aqua.

Aether charged at the Titan. The obvious thing to do was beat at it's legs. There was no way she'd be able to reach it's head, or arms. She built up a pattern quick enough, send a wave of fire at the Titan's leg, strike the area with the Keyblade.

The Titan left a trail of ice with each step it took, though the ice did not have staying-power. And it was a bit slow while moving. Aether couldn't imagine ice being very eashy to move around as.

She drove her fireblade into the Titan's leg, then cast repeated fire spells at it's would-be crotch. Aether ran, when she saw the Titan dropping to it's knees. Okay, the giant one was taken care of. All that did was leave Hades.

Aqua was doing great against the lord of the dead. She launched spell after spell at him, and able to nimbly avoid the god's worse attacks. "Aqua!" Aether shouted.

Pulling an ice blue sword out from behind her, Aether tossed it in her friends direction. She caught it effortlessly, and began launching two sets of fire spells at Hades. Before Hades could compose himself, Aqua struck him with the ice blade.

The Titan furiously twitched. It fell forward behind Hades. Small ice particles surrounded the Titan as the wind carried the ice, and the remains of the Titan away. "I knew that snow cone couldn't cut it," Hades complained, his fire nearly consumed his upper body. "I need a real Titan. Stay tuned."

Hades left in an angry puff. He was a patient god, Hades would conquer Olympus, one way, or another.

* * *

"Stupid Hades," Zack complained. "Next time, I'll put him in his place. Oh yeah!"

He turned to look at Aqua. "You're the champ - we gotta celebrate!"

"That won't be necessary," Aqua said simply.

"Hmm…" Zack crossed his arms to think. "Hey, how about one date?"

"Huh?!" gasped Aqua. "Oh! You mean - No… I have to leave right away… Besides, I still have so much training to do…"

Aether balled up the ends of her sleeves in front of her mouth. Even then, her laughter could not be muffled. Aqua on an actual date. That was a real laugh. She was always so caught up in her studies or training to be bothered with that. And even when she had free time she would have rather spend it with her friends.

"Fair enough," Zack admitted. "And I'm still a work in progress, after all. Well, how 'bout this - I become a hero, then we go on a date."

"I… I can't make any promises."

"Yes! Great, it's settled! Hero-hood, here I come!"

"That counted as a 'yes?'" Aether asked, thinking out loud.

With a new resolved, Zack rushed out of the courtyard, crossing paths with Herc. The trainee ran up to the girls. "It's over already?" he asked, disappointed. "And I finished today's training in record time."

He studied Aqua for a moment. A look of confusion crossed Herc's face. "Uh, Aqua? What's wrong? Your face is red."

Aether beamed boldly. "Well, you see, Za - HMPH!"

Aqua slapped a hand over Aether's mouth. "Nothing!" she blurted out. "Nothing. You want to be a hero too, right? Strength alone won't make you into one."

"I know, I know," Herc said. It sounded like he had this speech before. "Strength alone won't make me a true hero. I'm starting to figure that out. I look at you and Zack, and I can tell there's something more."

"You've got strength in your heart, too," the bluenette said, releasing Aether. "Never stop trying, and one day you might become a true hero after all."

"Terra, you too," Aqua said under her breath. "Keep fighting."

Aether must have been hoping the same thing. The way she argued with Hades. Though, there was only one round of that. Back against Maleficent, her resolve was strong, so sure. But since the truth came out there was room for doubt.

Maybe one day, she would have that same unyielding faith she had a few days ago.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Phil's line on epic poetry always confused me. Those things are kinda long, ya know.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

**Deep Space**

Aether stuck off as soon as Aqua had her back turned. There was no way she was going back home now.

She was confused. First she hears Terra might be turning things around, but then Hades goes and says he asked for the gods help in using darkness. So, then, nothing has changed since Radiant Garden. Terra was still doing things Aether would never have expected.

Looking up ahead, Aether saw a blue, humanoid Unversed, a Scrapper. The sail on Aether's glider retracted as she planted her feet firmly onto the glider. She blocked with the end of the board when the Scrapper broke for an attack.

Flipping over backwards, Aether's glider bashed into the Heartless. She revved up the gilder, and tore through the Unversed. The Unversed disintegrated, prompting a smirk from Aether.

She gasped, as a very large space ship flew over head. The thing looked like it could have been it's own world. Aether's glider shuttered beneath her, and she panicked. The suction of the passing ship was stronger than she expected.

Aether tried to regain control of her gilder, though it was a futile attempt. The force was far too much. Aether was sucked into the ship's force, losing her glider in the process.

_Little Aether poked her head into the doorway. She noticed the bit of armor on Aura's shoulder. Aura was busy, pulling her hair back into a half-updo. Sure enough, Master Eraqus was close by, trying to talk her out of something. "Aura, please think about this," Eraqus pleaded._

"_I already have," she replied. "I've ignored him long enough. If this doesn't stop now…"_

"_Please. You're not responsible for him-"_

"_Yes, I am. I saw the signs, and ignored them. I need to fix this."_

"_What about Aether?"_

"_If something goes wrong, she'll be in good hands."_

_Aether suddenly aged ten years. She felt something sharp against her neck. "I can't let you get in my way," the person behind her said darkly. The worst part was, she knew that voice._

"_Terra…"_

_The blade was torn across her throat, slitting it. Blood splurged out around her._

The Grand Councilwoman of the United Galactic Federation walked through the line of prison cells with Captain Gantu close behind. The Councilwoman was a tall, blue-grey alien with horse-like legs, large black eyes, and a peculiarly shaped head. She was dressed in form fitting black robes, and waked with her head held high. Captain Gantu was very, tall, resemble a whale, dressed in a form fitting suit.

The pair walked onto rising platform that carried them up a few stories. The Grand Councilwoman looked from once cell, to the next. In both of them, were very odd creatures, of the likes she had never seen. "Are they the ones?" she asked the Captain.

"Yes, Grand Councilwoman," Gantu confirmed. "I've confined them until we can determine what they are."

Aether's eyes fluttered open. She found herself in a cell, twelve by twelve at best guess. She was in a small cot in the corner of the cell. Sitting up, Aether rubbed her eyes. "What hit me?" she asked herself.

Below her, a number of Unversed scattered the floor. Gantu removed his laser gun from his hoister. "Take cover!" he instructed the Grand Councilwoman. "Leave it to me to handle these fiends. Whatever you are, you're under arrest… Eventually!"

"Even here?" Aether sighed. "Ah, well…"

If she managed to get onto the ship, it was reasonable to say that Unversed could slip in. Either way, Aether probably should find a way out, and take care of them.

To her surprise, someone managed to escape from their own cell. They landed on their feet, ready to fight the Unversed. Wait, was that a Keyblade in their hand? An oddly familiar one, too. "Terra?!" Aether gasped.

What was she supposed to do? They didn't exactly part on the best of terms. Of course, that still didn't change the fact that Terra did regrettable things. What was she supposed to do?

'_Take care of the Unversed,' _she decided.

Leaping back against the wall, Aether pointed her Keyblade at the green-tinted glass. A white beam shot out of the blade. She heard a mechanical beep, and the glass slid up. Satisfied, Aether leaped out of the cell, then landed nimbly on the floor. "Aether?" Terra questioned.

"Later," the red head said.

They were surrounded by Sweepers, extremely easy Unversed, Aether didn't bother to use magic or any of her abilities. A couple of hit's and they were reduced to dust and munny (she didn't get that last one).

Once that was done, Aether tugged at the bandana's keeping her pigtails in. She felt like she could use a shower, how many day's has it been? "Aether," Terra said, startling her. She gave him the best fake smile she could muster. "I thought you were supposed to go home?"

"I got lost," Aether lied. That was going to be her excuse now, wasn't it? "I was headed back when I ended up on this ship."

She finished with a shrug. "Guess what happened to you, happened to me," said Terra.

"Looks like it," Aether said. She avoided Terra's gaze. She really wasn't ready for this, it was still too soon.

There was a rather long, awkward silence between the two. Aether absently wondered what to do at this point. Separate? Try to find a way out together?

"Very impressive display," someone said.

Aether's gaze bounced from left to right, until she found a rather peculiar looking alien in the cell. He had a heavy built, rather stout, and had four eyes. She looked up at Terra, who gestured for her to follow. Something Aether was happy to abide. "Wait!" the alien called out. "You help? I have been imprisoned on ridiculous charges!"

Terra abruptly came to a stop, to which Aether ran into. "Is that so?" he asked.

"I'm an innocent scientist who created the galaxy's most destructive-" the alien cleared his throat before he corrected himself. "_Constructive_ species of all time. Why, my experiment could annihilate creatures you fought so hard. He is bulletproof, fireproof, and can think faster than supercomputer. He can see in the dark and move object three thousand times his rather diminutive size.

"And for reasons preposterous, the Federal Council fears him. They take him away from me and throw me here in small, stuffy, rather badly lit cell."

"Because he's so powerful?" asked Terra.

"Exactly," the alien confirmed. "Everyone always gets antsy in pantses when somebody more powerful is in the neighborhood. You understand, perhaps?

Aether shifted around uneasily. She looked up at Terra, who eyed the alien scientist with a keen interest. His story must have struck a bit of a cord with him. In light of the Exam, did Terra feel like he was denied Master because of his strength?

As much as Aether disagreed with the Master over his decision over the Exam, she was pretty sure he wouldn't do something like that. The Master was completely paranoid about darkness, but he wouldn't someone because of strength alone.

To Aether's surprise, Terra summoned his Keyblade, and pointed it at the alien's cell. "We must make to rescue him," said the scientist. "Or he'll be banished to the far reaches of space."

The redhead sifted from left to right as Terra opened the alien's cell. She had a bad feeling about all this. The alien's Freudian slip or not, something about him seemed off. Like the words he used weren't genuine.

Still, she did not voice her concerns. Because, if truth be told, Aether did not know her way around this ship. The heavy-built alien climbed out of his cell and walked up to the apprentices. "Experiment 626," he explained. "Is name I give to adorable, fluffy creature you are helping for to rescue. And I am genius scientist who created him, Dr. Jumba Jookiba."

"I'm Terra."

"Aether," the redhead introduced. "So… when you say 626, do you mean six-hundred twenty-six, or six-hundred sixty-six?"

Dr. Jookiba gave Aether a very dull, unimpressed glare. A look that clearly said 'what is it that you think?'

"Fine, stupid question," Aether snapped. "Can we go now?"

…

Jumba went on, and on about the various experiments he created. As the name 626 suggested, there were six-hundred twenty-five predecessors. While impressive, 626 outdid them all. Hence why the creature wasn't suppressed into small pods like the others.

It was some sort of miracle that allowed them to slip by cadets, infantry men, and other alien officials. But, they made it into 626's holdings in one piece. Going by Jumba's description of the experiment alone, Aether expected it to be a towering, fire-breathing, strong built of a creatures.

That wasn't what 626 was by a long shot.

In the glass holding camber was a small blue koala in an orange prison suite. It had six limbs, a spine backside, and a couple of antennae coming out of it's head. 626 was scampering around it's small hold, trying to find away out. "Amazing, is he not?" Jumba asked the two as he walked up to the holding.

"He's… smaller than I expected," Aether said.

"Yes, such tremendous power in such an itty-bitty package. Truly, he is the one and that's the only - the mightiest creature in all the galaxy. And his only singular instinct - to destroy anything he touches! See?"

"What?!" Terra gasped.

With a touch of the button, the glass vanished, releasing 626. The experiment began babbling incoherently. He leaped off the platform, and landed on Aether's shoulder. She froze as the experiment hurried from one shoulder to the other. He launched himself off Aether, and onto Terra. 626 scurried from Terra's upper body, to his hakama pants, then back up.

626 leaped onto the ceiling, carrying an orange star charm in it's blue paw. "Huh, little pickpocket," Aether muttered. She gasped, and quickly checked her own pocket. Okay, good, it was still there.

"When did you -" Terra muttered. He pat down his pockets, then looked back up at 626. "Give that back!"

"Too late," Jumba said simply. "Is already marked for destruction."

His experiment studied the charm intently. Like he was trying to figure out it's purpose was. Either 626 was frustrated, or he didn't want to think with so many people watching, he climbed farther up the wall. "No, stop!" Terra shouted. "My friend gave me that!"

A gasp escaped his lips, surprised by his own reaction. 626 looked down just as surprised. He looked back at the charm. "'Friend?' Are you joking?" Jumba scoffed. He started laughing so hard he eventually fell onto his backside. "Such concept is totally lost on 626!"

Terra's charm fell to the ground, 626, still on the ceiling, crawled off. The charm's owner quickly picked it up off the floor. "Funny," he mused. "This whole time I've been telling myself I want to be stronger, more independent… But the second I let my heart do the talking… I find out how little I really know myself. And how much I miss them."

Aether felt her face heat up. Even after all Terra had done, her feeling's remained unchanged. But she still wasn't where she wanted to be. She wasn't stupid, she knew age was more than just a number, despite what everyone said. They were in two different places, and they would always be in two different places. But, maybe being equals would be like meeting half-way. Half-way was closer than being on the other side of the world.

"That experiment of yours…" Terra said, turning to Jumba. "You sure about him? Maybe, in his heart, he wants friends just like the rest of us."

"Impossible! Pshah!" Jumba scoffed. "He has no actual feelings - only destructive instincts I have carefully chosen for him. Or perhaps you need another demonstration of my evil geniusness!"

He reached behind him, and pulled out a small green pod, and a glass beaker of water. _'Where was he even keeping a beaker full of water?!'_ Aether couldn't help but think.

Jumba popped the pod into the beaker. As soon as the pod sunk to the bottom, it began to glow, brightly. A short, squat, yellow being emerged from the beaker, breaking it in the process. His blue eyes were massive on his narrow head, he had small ears, and long, forked antennae. "Meet experiment 221," said Jumba. "He specializes in crippling elective surges, and can generate and release massive discharge of electrical energy. Excellent for city black outs."

221 was exceedingly fast. Terra and Aether managed to land in a few hits, but things really got difficult when 221 traveled into circuitry of a couple of previously deactivated laser guns. Clearly they didn't want to take their chances with 626.

Aether ran around the room, dodging the blast. "Any ideas?" Aether called.

"Don't get hit," Terra replied.

"Beside that!"

A yellow glow surrounded Terra's Keyblade. A blast of fire emerged from the blade, slamming into the gun. 221 emerged from the circuitry, babbling in the same incoherent nonsense as 626.

There had to be away to beat 221. "Maybe we can get him to short circuit," Aether suggested.

"That seems to be our best option."

"I'll get the ice, you get the fire?"

Terra nodded. They both leaped back in opposite directions. Aether cast a blizzard spell onto the platform where 626's holding once hovered. The ice was promptly melted by Terra's fire spell. Steam quickly filled the room. Out of confusion, 221 let out a serge of electricity, unfortunately a serge that touched the puddle of water on the floor.

The illegal experiment was short circuited by his own electric current. The room was filled with light, the overhead light's flashed on and off. Finally Experiment 221 was reduced back to a green pod. "You'll be alright, little one," Jumba said, falling to the floor. His dear experiment rolled up to him.

Terra looked up ahead to find 626 walking up to them on all six's. He stood up on his back legs. "What is it?" Jumba asked him, standing back up. "Why have you returned?"

Growling, 626 shouted in an unknown language. "Maybe he's wondering what a friend is," Terra said, walking up to the experiment.

"Ridiculous!" Jumba insisted.

"My name is Terra," the young man introduced himself.

"Ter… ra…" 626 said through his broken language.

"Yes. I can't explain friendship. But when you feel it, you'll know it."

"Not if I have any say in the matter!" Jumba snapped. All four of his eyes were locked on his wayward experiment. "You are only meant to think about what is it you will destroy next. Now, to fix what is wrong with you."

626 growled something in an alien language. Suddenly, a loud siren echoed throughout the ships hallway, as red light filled the room.

"_Red alert! Red alert! Experiment 626 and three prisoners have escaped from the cell bay. Security, locate the fugitives immediately. Repeat. Experiment 626 and three prisoners-"_

Without really thinking Aether followed 626 out of the room, despite Terra calling for her. She followed 626 down several hallways until he came to a stop. They were in a room with tons of scrap metal. "Recycling, looks like it," Aether muttered.

She watched as 626 gathered pieces of scrap, comparing their sizes, and working to put them together. To her surprise, whatever he was making, didn't take him that long. "Terra… friend…" the experiment said, showing Aether his project.

It was a star made out of the colorful space junk. His own Wayfinder. "Friend," 626 repeated.

"Uh-huh," Aether nodded. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her yellow charm. "See? I have one, too."

"Terra friend?"

"Yeah. My name's Aether." 

"Eh-ther…" repeated 626. He reached out for Aether's Wayfinder, she fought back the urge to pull it back. But, 626 only studied it. "Eh-ther, friend?"

The redhead pondered for a moment. "I guess so," she smiled. Aether placed her way finder back into her pocket. "I better get going, thought. Can't have securities finding me."

When Aether tapped the armor on her shoulder, 626 had already taken off for the air vents.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven  
****Neverland**

Mickey searched the Indian village. He knew it was around here, somewhere. The only question was, where did he drop it? In front of him, a corridor of darkness appeared, much to his surprise. Turning around, Mickey came face-to-face with the same masked boy he saved Ven from. Vanitas, and a second figure in a black hooded coat.

"Move it," Vanitas said forcefully.

* * *

_Falling… falling… It was hard to breath, hard to think. Well, about anything other than the pain. What happened to her? Why did she hurt like this? What was she falling from? She would've opened her eyes, but each time she tried, they stung. _

_Aqua was calling for her. Where was Ven and Terra? If there was ever a time to be really confused…_

"_Wake up!"_

There were young voices around her, though in her haze, it was hard to make out what they were saying. Opening her eyes Aether's vision was clouded. She needed to blink a couple of times before she saw two young boys standing above her. One was a bit thing, and wearing a fox skins. The second was squat, and chubby, wearing bear skins. "Let's try kickin' 'em!" the fox skins kid, Slightly, suggested gleefully.

Sitting up, Aether found Ven laying down at her side. The boys were studying Ven as a small pixie in a small green dress hovered over him. Startled, Ven turned over on his side, causing the pixie, Tinker Bell to tumble off course. "Who are you?" Slightly asked.

"Name's Ventus," the blonde boy said as he stood up. "But everyone just call's me Ven."

"And I'm Aether," the redhead said, dusting off her backside. "I don't have a nickname."

"I guess when I sat down to rest, I must have fallen asleep," Ven said to himself.

"You could sleep through anything," Aether sighed.

"What about you then?" Ven challenged with a smirk.

"I… don't remember…"

She really didn't. She just remembered leaving the spaceship, and then nothing much. But the what happened to Ven must have happened to Aether. "But where'd you come from?" asked the boy in the bear skin, Cubby.

Aether bit the pad of her thumb. "Well…" she started slowly. "We came from…"

By a stroke of luck, Tinker Bell flew up to the Lost boys and begain to pull at Slightly's ear. "All right, all right, we're goin'!"

"So long, Ven," Cubby said following close behind Slightly. "So long, Aether."

"Hey," Ven called. "Where are you guy's off to?"

"Tink saw a shootin' star and we're gonna go hunt it down!"

"A shooting star," Aether asked, intrigued. "Mind if we come along?"

"'Course not," said Slightly. "But ya gotta agree to follow us!"

"Yeah, it's uh…" Cubby said, following Tinker Bell with his eyes. "Right over there! That-a way! By the Indian Camp!"

"Ready, men? Forward march!"

Apparently, Ven was pretty much doing what Aether was. Just drifting from world to world. Looked like neither of them were ready to go home just yet.

They followed the Lost Boy's to the tree they lived under with the other Lost Boy's. A rooster suddenly cawed, only it wasn't really a rooster, more like boy imitating the bird. A boy dressed in green literally flew past them overhead once, then hovered at their level. "Who do we have here?" he asked, looking over Ven and Aether. "Never seen you before?"

"I'm Ventus," the blonde said. "Call me Ven. And she's Aether."

"Well," the boy, Peter Pan said, landing on the ground. "If you say so."

He walked up to Slightly and Cubby. "Ten-shun!" he said. Immediately the two Lost Boy's saluted as Peter approached. "Now then, men. I don't suppose you'd wanna capture some real pirate treasure? Whaddya say we sneak in and grab it?"

"Oh, boy!"

"Let's go, let's go!"

In a huff Tinker Bell rushed over to the Lost Boy's and gave them a tiny kick to the head. She then flew over to Peter as though she where jumping up and down. "Tinker Bell," said Peter. "What's gotten into you?"

"We where all supposed to go hunt for a shooting star together," Ven explained.

Peter just shook this off. "Forget that. Pirate treasure is way more fun. Tink, you're comin' with us."

In response the pixie flew off. "Well, that's no way to respond to an invitation. C'mon, Ven, Aether, you're better sport's than her, right?"

"Well, _I'd_ like to think so," Aether muttered.

"I'd love to join you," said Ven. "But… first I want to find the shooting start."

"And I go wherever Ven goes."

Peter just shrugged and took off flying into the air with the Lost Boy's following him on the ground. "Really, Ven?" Aether asked him. "You don't want to rob pirates? When're we ever gonna do that again?"

"I know," Ven replied. "But when are we ever going to see a shooting star this close before?"

"Em… okay, point taken.

The apprentices followed Tinker Bell across Neverland to the Indian Camp where they should have found the shooting star. "Ven!" Aether exclaimed suddenly pointing straight ahead.

There was something on the ground, and it was certainly shaped like a star. But upon closer inspection Ven had to admit this 'shooting star' looked familiar. "Mickey's Star Shard?" he questioned.

"Huh?" the yellow clad girl questioned. "You know him?"

"Yeah. I met him just before Radiant Garden. The Star Shard is how he travels from world to world."

The odd trio rushed up to the Star Shard, with Tinker Bell being the fastest. However she flew into the clutches of a pirate dressed in red with a hook for his left hand. There was a short, chubby lackey next to him in a white and blue striped shirt, and red cap "A shooting star _and_ a pixie!" Captain James Hook cackled. "Must be me birthday."

"Let her go!" Aether shouted, running up to Hook with Ven.

"Couple 'o Peter Pan's brats," said Hook. "Well, tell that cowardly sparrow if he want's his precious Tinker Bell back he'd best meet me at Mermaid Lagoon!"

The pirates ran off as quickly as they came, despite Ven's calls for them to stop. They were held back by a few Unversed and by the time the wiped them out, Hook and Smee were nowhere to be seen.

Ven lead the way back to the mainland when they slid to a stop. "Lost them," he sighed.

"Well, I don't see any other island," Aether said, scanning the area. "They couldn't have gotten far. Ven?"

It wouldn't appear that Ven was paying attention. He was looking up at a nearby palm tree and the light's that filtered through the leaves. "Look out below!" Peter called. He hovered down to the ground, as Ven snapped out of his trance and turned around.

"Peter, help!" the blond boy said quickly. "Tinker Bell's been pixie-napped!"

"Really, Ven," Aether asked, giving him a strange look.

"Then I'm too late," Peter said, more to himself than Ven and Aether. "Hook's gonna pay for this!"

"He said to meet him a Mermaid Lagoon," Aether added.

"Gotta be an ambush. Hmph, that old codfish think's he's cleaver."

Without another word Peter pushed off the ground and flew into the air. "Hey," Ven called. "We'll go too!"

"Well we have to hurry. Can you keep up?"

"You bet!"

* * *

Upon the Jolly Roger Mr. Smee spotted Peter Pan and those two kids through his telescope. "Peter Pan ahoy!" He shouted. "Man the Long Tom, and… Fire!"

Peter landed on the ground beside Ven and Aether as the cannon ball that fired from the Jolly Roger sailed across the sea, onto land, and just behind the group of kids. "Cannon fire," Ven questioned, summoning his Keyblade. "Where's it coming from?"

"Over there," Aether said, pointing at the Jolly Roger with her own Keyblade.

Another canon fired. "Move it," Ven shouted pulling Aether with him to the side as the canon hit where they once stood.

A small ball of yellow light flew out of the dust and over to Peter. "Tink, it's you," Peter said happily. "And you're all right."

The sound of a bell could be heard from Tinker Bell, almost as though she where talking to Peter. "What," Peter questioned. "A strange fellah with a funny-lookin' sword has-"

The ground rumbled as another cannon hit the ground. "Hold on, I gotta stop that cannon!"

"Okay," Ven nodded. "Aether and I will go after Hook."

"Right. Tink, if you would."

The pixie nodded and circled around Ven and Aether with a trail of gold dust trailing behind her. "What…" Ven said in awe.

"What was that?" Aether asked.

"It's pixie dust," Peter explained. "Bet you feel lighter now, don'tcha?"

Without another word Peter leapt up into the air and flew across the water to the Jolly Roger. "What did he mean by 'lighter,'" Ven asked.

"Not sure," Aether shrugged. She had her arm's crossed over her chest and thought.

She suddenly felt herself lean back as though she where pushed over and quickly struggled stay up. Aether looked down to find herself hovering a few feet off the ground, and Ven looking at her with amazement. "So that's what he meant!" she almost laughed.

"So, Tinker Bell just sprinkles pixie dust on you and you can-" Ven started. He didn't finish his sentence as he floated off the ground. A smile grew on Ven's face. "This is…"

"Awesome!" Aether finished, circling around Ven.

"Took the word's right out of my mouth," he smiled.

"Come on. We told Peter we'd deal with Hook."

"Right."

* * *

Hook tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. "Alas," he sighed. "And so passeth a worthy opponent. To think that his would be such an inglorious end."

He let out a moan and bent over double. Within seconds he started laughing to himself in triumph. "At last, that scurvy brat will never trouble me again!"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Hook!" Ven shouted.

Hook turned himself around to find Ven and Aether, armed and ready for action. "Swoggle me eyes," the red clad pirate shouted. "No, don't tell me!"

He ran to the edge of the rock he stood on. He pulled out a gold telescope and aimed it at the Jolly Roger. He could see Peter Pan on board toying with his first mate Mr. Smee. "Blast that Peter Pan!" Hook shouted.

Sword drawn the red clad pirate rushed over to Ven and Aether. He was ready to attack when…

_Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock…_

"That sound!" Hook muttered nervously. He turned himself around to come face-to-face with a large, hungry crocodile. "No! Not again! S-Stay away from me!"

"Why don't you worry about what's in front of you?" Aether warned.

Almost as expected from a pirate, Hook was a skilled swordsmen. And apparently much faster than he looked. But then again, that might have been expected from all the years chasing after Peter Pan. Thankfully with the help of Tink's pixie dust they had an easy way of dogging Hook's worst attacks.

Eventually they sent Hook canonballing not the water. He broke through the surface with no problems. That is, until he caught sight of the crocodile. "Leave me alone!" he shouted in hysteria as the crocodile lunged at the Captain. Somehow Hook managed to _run_ on the water with the crocodile on his coattails. "Help me, Smee! SMEEEEEEEE!"

Aether watched the sight play out, fairly pleased with herself. "Ahoy!" Slightly's voice called out. "Look what we brought!"

Ven and Aether turned too see Peter and Tink leading Slightly and Cubby on a rowboat with a treasure chest on board. "It's a pirate's treasure chest!"

* * *

The Lost Boy's managed to haul the wooden chest onto the island. "The same chest I told ya about," Peter said proudly. "We snatched it right out of Hooks hiding place."

Peter bent down to open the chest, only to find it empty. "Huh? How come it's empty?"

"Uh, sorry, but," Cubby began. "We losted all the treasures."

"Oh well," Ven sighed. "That's too bad."

"Aw, who needs it," Peter shrugged. "It was prob'ly just full of dumb old jewel's or doubloons or somethin' anyways."

"Yeah, who'd want to have stuff like that," Aether muttered, turning her head away.

"We could just put what we treasure in there instead," Slightly suggested. "If ya wanna?"

"Ya, that's perfect," said Peter. "Instead of fillin' it with jewels and gold and stuff, we'll put in what's truly special to us. The real riches!"

Within the next half hour or so Peter and the Lost Boy's had gathered up their old toy's and weapon's to put into the chest. "What are you puttin' in?" Peter asked the Keyblade wielders.

"I dunno," Ven said thoughtfully. Suddenly, and Aether would never for the life of her figure this out, pulled out a wooden Keyblade. Aether knew it well, it was once Terra's but eventually gave it to Ven in a mock sucesstion ceremony shortly after the blonde came to live with them. "How 'bout this?"

"What is it?" asked Peter.

"It's… just something one of my best friends gave me."

"So it's like a keepsake, huh? You sure you wanna part with something' that special?"

"Yup," Ven grinned. "I don't need it if I have Terra, Aqua, and Aether. Our best memories are still ahead."

"All right then. What about you, Aether?"

"Oh, uh," the girl gasped. She quickly looked over herself. She really didn't have much on her, just the clothes on her back and her Wayfinder. Her hand slowly touched one of the bandanas in her pigtails. "Sure, why not…"

She pulled the yellow piece of cloth out of her hair, leaving one in. Aether had both bandana's for a few years now, because it made one conversation seem all the more real. Back when she hated her hair color for how much it made her stand out.

_Nine-year-old, Aether swung her wooden sword against the target, in anger. She had a bit of a difficult time at school that day. It seemed like everyone picked on her for her red hair. Well, okay, not _picked on _her, but rather, picked her out of everyone in her class with their brown, black, and blonde hair. Though there was a small few who liked to call her 'Tomato.'_

_Like today, while going over a math problem, her teacher picked someone at random, and of course, the first thing she saw was Aether's hair. Then there were the few little jerks who felt the need drop little tomato hints everywhere that day. Aether socked the ringleader in the jaw._

_As punishment Aether was to do her drill's with the wooden sword. Aether hated doing drills. Honestly, sometimes she wished she had black hair like Eraqus. She knew Eraqus loved Aether's red hair because it was 'a gift from her mother,' but weren't Aura's green eyes enough. _

_Growling, Aether flung her hair behind her back. Damn stuff got in the way. She really should have considered cutting it._

_Aether allowed the sword to drop onto the ground as she sat back. A gust of wind, flinging her hair to and throw. "Here," she heard. Opening her eyes, Aether found a couple of folded yellow cloths drop into her lap. She looked up to find Terra standing over her. "You look like you need to tie your hair back."_

"_Right…" Aether grumbled._

"_I heard what happened," the older boy said, taking a seat beside her. "Doesn't sound like one of your finest moments."_

"_They disserved it," she argued. "They wouldn't leave me alone today. I can only take so many 'Hey, Tomato's' for one day."_

_Another gust of wind blew her hair about. What Aether wouldn't give to have brown hair. But, she doubted Eraqus would allow her to die it. "You know," Terra spoke up. "'Tomato's' really not a fitting nickname. For starters, not everyone likes tomato's."_

_Aether glared up at him. She could see where Terra was going with this. 'You should be happy that you're hair's red. It makes you, you.' She just wanted him to get on with it. "If you ask me," Terra continued. "Tomato's give the color red a bad reputation. Some of the most beautiful things are red."_

_The younger girl looked up at Terra with wide eyes. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? "Take the sunsets for example. They're usually the most picturesque when they're red, like the sky's on fire. Or some the most beautiful flowers. Have you ever seen a red hydrangea, or spider lily?"_

_By now, Aether's face was slowly turning as red as her hair. Terra tugged at a lock of her hair. "You, obviously, never had the pleasure of seeing the beauty of this flying in the wind. But…"_

_Terra went on to tussle Aether's hair. "You can't really train properly if you can't see what's in front of you," he said, standing up._

_Aether was still in a state of awe when Terra walked off. Someone actually called her hair beautiful? Something that just caused her irritation in the past… Could a nuisance like that be considered beautiful?_

_Smiling, Aether tied her hair back with one of the yellow bandana's Terra gave her. Then, she braided it, and tied the end off with the other. Maybe Terra had a point. The shade of yellow looked really nice with this shade of red._

"I think this'll do," Aether said, placing the bandana into the chest.

She untied the remaining bandana and worked it around her head so that it would be like a headband.

Tinker Bell suddenly fluttered over the chest with the Star Shard in her tiny hands. "Oh, wait, Tink," Ven said, caching the pixie's attention. "I'm pretty sure that belongs to a friend of ours. Do you think maybe I could hang onto it?"

The pixie shook her head and turned herself around. "Now Tink…" Peter warned.

Tinker Bell let out a sigh and flew over to Ven. Hesitantly she dropped the Star Shard into Ven's outstretched hand. "Thank you," he said.

The Shard suddenly started to glow brightly. Instinctively, Aether squeezed her eyes shut as the Star Shard glowed brighter and brighter. When the light finally died everyone was surprised to find Ven had disappeared. "He's gone!" Slightly gasped.

With her eye's closed Aether wrapped her arm's around Ven's chest as the Star Shard glowed brighter and brighter. When the light finally died the Lost Boy's where surprised to fine that their new friends had vanished. "There gone," Slightly said in awe.

"Look," Cubby exclaimed, pointing at the sky. "The light!"

They found a ray of light bouncing wildly through the sky. Somehow, they knew it was Ven. "Don't worry, men," said Peter. "No matter where that light takes 'im, he'll always have friends waiting to meet 'im."

"Yeah," Aether smiled. Ven was going to be fine wherever the Shard took him.

* * *

Aether sailed across the Lanes Between, wondering where she would end up next. Should she tried heading home? No, she wasn't ready for that just yet. Aether was still a bit angry at the Master. Making her stay put, spying on Terra. Granted Terra wasn't completely off the hook either. They hardly talked the last time they saw each other.

Something suddenly struck her from behind. Looking over her shoulder Aether saw another Scrapper Unversed. Gritting her teeth, six blades appeared behind Aether. She grabbed the red blade and slashed in front of her. A stream of fire sailed straight into the Unversed.

It recovered quickly, and struck at Aether's legs. She gasped as her feet left the board. She cried out as she fell into the next world.

* * *

**Authors Note: **I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Then after that is when the shit hit's the fan.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Chapter Twelve  
****Passing of the Power**

The side of her face felt a bit warm. The cawing of seagulls passed overhead over the roar of waves. The sent of saltwater reached her nose. Aether opened her eyes to find a little girl staring at her Wingspell in awe. The little girl reached her hand out to touch them, but drew it back before she could. She repeated this a couple of times before Aether sat up.

The little girl stepped back, holding her hands behind her back. She looked to be about three or four. Her black hair went half-way down her back, and her eyes were green. She was dressed in a blue tank top with a green stripe around her chest,. She had on a pair of blue denim shorts and blue and green slip-on shoes.

In a flash, Aether's Wingspell disappeared in a flash, causing the little girl to look at her with wide eye. "That was so cool!" she cheered. "What was that?!"

"Eh… hehe…" Aether uttered nervously.

"So what were you doing sleeping there?" the girl asked. "Mom says you shouldn't sleep in the sand. You might lose something, or someone could burry you alive."

"That's… good to know. Didn't your mom also tell you that you shouldn't talk to strangers?"

"I'm Tian," the girl said. "There. _I'm_ not a stranger anymore. What about you? What's you're name?"

Aether was at a complete lost of what to do. For all she knew this girls parents were nearby and they would mistake her for a kidnapper. Looking around Aether saw that she was sitting on a beach in the late afternoon. Not that far away were a couple of boys, about the same age as this girl, searching through the grass. "Are they you're friends?" Aether asked, gesturing to the boys.

"Uh-huh," Tian nodded. "Sora's dad usually takes us here to play. We were playing soccer until we lost the ball. Em… well, it's not really soccer we're just seeing who can get the most goals."

"I see," Aether said, standing up.

She wiped her pants off and noticed something missing in her pocket. Frantic, she checked again. It wasn't there.

Aether fell to her knees and ran her hands through the sand. Confused, Tian tilted her upper body to the side. "Did you lose something?" she asked.

"The good luck charm my friend made," Aether said, still searching the sand. "I can't find it."

"I'll help."

The little girl got onto her knees and began digging through the sand with Aether. Are you from another world?" she asked.

Aether froze up. She could almost feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up. "W-Why would you ask that?" she questioned, trying to keep her voice steady.

"'Cause I've never seen you on the mainland before," Tian explained, looking up at Aether. "And no one lives here. And there's that cool trick with the swords behind you."

'_Damn, kids observant,' _Aether thought ruefully.

"That's a… little odd for someone your age to say," she said out loud.

Tian shrugged. "My friend, Riku, always talks about it. He found out about this kid who left the islands a while back. He's been interested in the idea ever since."

Was that what kids were talking about these days?

How could she loose her Wayfinder that easily? Maybe this was a sign that her friendship with Ven, Terra, and Aqua was destined for failure? There wasn't a point in finding it then. Aether probably should have just left. It didn't look like there were any Unversed here, so-

"Is this it?" Tian asked, holding up Aether's yellow Wayfinder by it's cord.

"Yeah, it is!" Aether beamed. The little girl handed her the charm with a broad smile. "Thank you, Tian."

Keeping her bright smile on, Tian stood up and dusted off her knees and shorts. Aether creased her brow. She was just noticing it now, but there was something off about this child. Aether could feel something in her heart. Darkness?

No, no, it didn't seem like it was anything that could harm her, Tian seemed like she was blissfully unaware of it in the first place. It was just something in her heart that shouldn't have been. The only way Aether could describe it was a 'wall.' Something placed in her heart to keep something away. But was that something harmful?

It was like something was emitting from the 'wall.' Light. Very, very strong light. She wasn't sure if she should describe it as 'pure' like the Princesses, or 'ancient.' An old light inside a young body.

There were mysteries in this little girl's heart she wasn't even aware of. In the end, maybe that was for the best.

Aether slid her Wayfinder back into her pocket. "Say, Tian," she stood up. "If there _were_ other worlds, and you _could_ visit them, what would you do?"

Tian thought for a moment. Her eyes turned to the sea, like it helped her find her answer. "Emm… I'd want to get stronger. So if my friends were ever in trouble, I'll be able to help them before something bad happens."

The redhead smiled slightly. "What if other people needed your help, though?" she asked. "Would you help them?"

Tian nodded. "Really?" Aether asked. "But you probably wouldn't know them."

"That's fine," Tian said, slowly turning around to face Aether. "Strangers are just friends I haven't met yet."

For a split moment, Aether could have sworn that the little girl's image changed. It was still the same face, and same black hair. But it was a bit longer, tied into braid hung over her shoulder. Her blue clothes changed into a red and white sundress. The vision gave Aether a smile before it reverted back into the girl in blue clothing.

What Aether was about to do could be called impulsive, maybe even irresponsible. Heck, Aether wasn't even sure if it would work with her. She was always told that you either needed to be a Master, or at the level of a Master. If Aether applied to the former, she really didn't know. But, she was about to find out.

Still, there was going to be a lot asked of Tian when she was older. Things she never asked for. Though, in the end, it would be Tian's choice to fight or not.

"Tian," Aether said, dropping onto one knee. She summon Arioso then flipped it over so that the handle was pointed at Tian. "In you hand, take this key. So long as you have the making, then through the simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend - no ocean will contain you then. No borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the one's you love."

Confused, Tian wrapped her small and around the grip of Arioso. A few moments of silence passed between the two. All the while, the Keyblade stayed in Tian's hand. "What did all that mean?" she asked.

"When you're a bit older," Aether began, willing the Keyblade away. "You'll be able to use this to get stronger."

"Aww…" the girl whined, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why can't I use it now?"

"Well, for starters, it's bigger than you are."

"I'm not that small!"

"Hey, Tian!"

The boy's came running up to them. The brunette with spiky hair carried a playground ball over his head. Both pulled to a stop, in front of Aether, studying her.

Aether suddenly felt like she was looking into a mirror that showed her two tiny versions of Terra and Ven. One of the boys had sincere blue-green eyes, and short silvery-grey hair.

What?

Someone already passed the power on to him. The only person Aether could think of was either Terra or Aqua. But, the brunette boy, he was the spitting image of Ven. They could have been brothers. "We found the ball," the brunette said.

"Kay," nodded Tian. An idea crossed her mind, she linked her arms around Aether's, and looked up at her. "Why don't you play with us for a bit?"

"Yeah!" the brunette beamed. "We could play with teams for a bit!"

"We can't force her, Sora," the silver haired boy pointed out. Aether assumed this was the Riku Tian mentioned.

"I know that, but…"

"It's okay," Aether said, tussling Tian's hair. "I can spare a few moments."

They were quickly divided into teams of two. Boys versus girls. Riku seemed to be okay about letting Aether play, but he pointed out that she might be faster than the kids because her legs were longer. First team to five, or who that the most points before it was time to go, won.

The boys were actually pretty good, obviously having done this before. But, so did Aether, soccer seemed to be a popular game for phys ed at school. Tian managed to steal the ball from Riku, and passed it to Aether, who kicked it into a couple piles of sands that served as a goal post.

After Sora retrieved the ball, he passed it to Riku. The silver haired boy hurried to the goal, Aether stole the ball, then passed it to Tian. She kicked it pass Sora and into the goal. "Two points!" Tian cheered.

"We're not done yet!" Sora pointed out.

He tossed the ball to Riku, immediately, both Tian and Aether were on his tail. The boy maneuvered himself around the beach, successfully throwing the girls off track, and kicked the ball into the goal.

The game continued, soon, they were tired four to four. Tian passed the ball to Aether. The redhead was surrounded by the boys. Doing the only thing that came to mind, Aether kicked the ball up, bounced it onto her knees. Gaining the extra momentum, Aether kicked the ball higher, and began to bounce it on her head. With one last bounce, the ball sailed into the goal. "We win!" Tian cheered.

"Aw, man…" Sora sighed, slumping over. Immediately he perked up, smiling at the girls, he laced his hands behind his head. He _defiantly_ could have been Ven's younger brother. "Good game, though."

"Time to go kids!" a man called.

"That's my dad," Sora said to Aether.

"Okay," the older girl nodded.

She place a hand on Tian's shoulder as the boy hurried off to the dock. "Can you wait a moment, Tian," said Aether.

"I guess…"

Aether placed two fingers over Tian's heart, a light glow emitted from the tips. Tian gasped, it didn't hurt her, but she was definitely surprised. "If you're ever alone and in trouble," Aether said lowering her hand. "Or if you ever need a little extra help; just ask for it as hard as you can."

Tian placed a hand over her chest, and nodded. "Okay," she nodded.

Turning on her heel, she ran to the dock where a middle aged man with brown hair helped her into the boat.

Aether walked along the shore line a little while later. She had to hope she made the right decisions about Tian. It would be hard for her if she didn't have the proper means to train with her Keyblade one day, and there was bound to be struggles for her. But maybe surrendering one of her own abilities could help her.

She felt something hit against her boot. When she looked down, Aether found a yellow star-shaped fruit. Gasping, Aether took out her Wayfinder. She looked from the fruit on the ground, to the charm, and back.

"_Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit. And the fruit represents and unbreakable connection. So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other."_

Aether returned her Wayfinder to her pocket, and rubbed her eyes. All of this, was too much of a coincidence.

* * *

**Authors Note: **You know what I really wracked my brain over in this chapter? Whether or not to call their games 'soccer' or 'football.'


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Chapter Thirteen  
****Out in the Open**

Aether ran her hands down her shirt, flattening out the wrinkles. She had to raise a brow at the sight in front of her. She stood in front of a tall tower decorated with moons and stars on the roof. That was about it. Nothing more than just the tower.

Unsure of what else to do, Aether walked in and was met with a long spiral stare case. Climbing up Aether made it to the top floor. There, a man with a long grey beard sat behind a large wooden desk. He was dressed in blue robes with a pointed hat decorated with a crescent moon and stars. Opposite him, was a younger man, mid to late twenties as best guess, with long, shaggy brown hair, in a black coat. Both appeared to be in conversation when the bearded man looked up at Aether. The brown haired man looked over his shoulder. "Well, aren't you the popular guy lately, Yen Sid," he said.

Aether gasped. "Master Yen Sid," she said sinking down into bow. "I'm-"

"I know how you are, Aether," the wizard said. The girl lifted her head up to look at him. "I also know you're supposed to be back home."

She flinched. "But, I'm sure you've met my protégé," he said kindly. "He always had a hard time following the rules, too."

The redhead smirked slightly. "Eraqus' girl, huh?" said the brown haired man. "You've really grown since I last saw you."

Aether stared at the man's face. His eyes were pale blue, and face was very pale. "Sorry," she said. "I don't remember you."

"I wouldn't expect you to. You were hardly crawling at the time."

"Noctis is an old friend of the Land of Departure," Yen Sid explained.

This confused Aether, Noctis hardly looked thirty. How could he be an old friend of the Land? "Though, Yen Sid has a point," said Noctis. "You really should be home."

"Why?" Aether asked bitterly. She looked at one of the shelves where Yen Sid kept an array of books. "Because it's too dangerous?"

"Because you still have a great deal to learn."

She bit back a scoff. Pulling to a stop, Aether stared at a framed photo on the shelf. It was a group photo of four teenagers, varying in age from eighteen to fifteen, with two masters on either side, and… Noctis? One of the Masters was obviously a younger Yen Sid. His beard wasn't nearly as long and was more ash blonde. The second master had long dark haired pulled back into a low ponytail. His eyes weary and seemed to carry and old soul. _'Master Nixe,' _Aether realized, taking the photo into her hand.

The oldest of the teenagers has silver-grey hair, tan skin, and gold eyes. He was dressed in a black vest and slacks, with an off-white undershirt. Master Xehanort, from the looks of it. Right beside him was a black haired young man. Despite Aether's resentment towards Eraqus, seeing his younger self made her smile.

To Eraqus left was a girl with long tomato red hair and green eyes, dressed in orange. Aura. Her arm was rapped around the shoulder of another boy with black hair. His brown eyes were glancing to the side, uninterested in the activity at hand.

Aether placed her fingertips on the glass, right above the black haired man. Where did she know this face? It was younger, obviously, but Aether knew him from somewhere. His name was on the tip of her tongue. "Uncle Adrian…" she whispered.

"What was that?" asked Yen Sid.

"Uncle Adrian," Aether said out loud. "I haven't seen him since…The Master never talks about him, so… Why did he let me forget Aura had a brother?"

"Because family affairs got very complicated, Aether," the old sorcerer explained. "Perhaps Eraqus thought it was best you didn't know until your were older."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Noctis scoffed. "Complicated doesn't being to describe it," he muttered.

"Noctis," Yen Sid sent him a warning glance.

"What do you mean?" Aether asked. She look back down at the photo and back at Yen Sid. "I kind of remember they got into a disagreement but-"

"A _disagreement_?" Noctis laughed. "Yeah, they got into a bit of a disagreement. And it cause Aura her life."

Her blood ran cold. "What?"

"Noctis, that is enough," Yen Sid rose his voice. "This is not something either of us should meddle in."

The brunette ran a hand through his hair. Aether couldn't pin point him at this point. Was he trying to gain something from telling Aether this? "Well, it doesn't look like Eraqus is telling her anything," he replied. "And she has a right to know. You see, Adrian was getting into dangerous things. Things that were not meant to be messed with. The heart of all hearts, Kingdom Hearts was his goal."

Aether's legs felt like goo. At least Noctis was nice enough to give up his chair for her. "You and Aura were the ones who kept Adrian morally in check," Yen Sid explained. "But even then, it wasn't enough. Adrian made many enemies. Some who would like to see him dead."

"Adrian learned more, and more about Kingdom Hearts, and the power it contains," Noctis explained. "He tried to get me onto his side more than once. Eventually, he got so far that Aura felt it was her responsibility to take care of Adrian herself. Adrian… got rid of the obstacle, and slit Aura's throat."

Aether's shoulders began to quake. She could just remember Adrian treating her so tenderly. How could he… "And that's why the Master never said anything about it," she said. Her voice was suddenly hoarse. "He just said Aura was killed in action… Of course… How's anyone supposed to tell their kid their mom was killed by her brother…? What-What happened to Adrian?"

"Aura managed to pull through one last time," Yen Sid explained. "She sent Adrian to another world where he had three kids."

'_Cousins?'_ Aether thought.

"He was killed fairly recently, though," Noctis added.

Aether rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. She really didn't want to admit it, but she needed to go home and talk to Eraqus about this. There were too many questions, questions that needed to be answered by Eraqus. "I'm sorry," she said standing up. "I need… I need to talked to the Master about all this. Thank you for telling me, though."

"There's no need to apologize, Aether," Yen Sid reassured her. "You're taking this as anyone else would."

She bowed and hurried out of her room. "This should have been between father and daughter," Yen Sid told Noctis.

"Hey, after what Adrian did to one of his own kids, he _disserves_ what he gets after death," Noctis argued.

* * *

Terra clutched his Keyblade as Eraqus slumped forward. Stepping forward, his blade disappeared, the harsh realization of his actions fully sunk in. "What have I done…" he whispered. "Master… I just… wanted to keep Ven safe."

"No," Eraqus shook his head. "You were right. I failed you, Terra. Perhaps I've no one to blame but myself for the darkness inside you. And now I've done worse - raised my Keyblade against you and Ventus. My own heart is darkness!"

Aether suddenly dropped from the sky. She landed, wide-eyed at the sight in front of her. "What's going on?" she asked. "Dad… did you and Terra get into a fight?"

Eraqus' eyes narrowed. "Why are you in my daughters form?" he demanded.

"What?" Aether asked, taking a step back. "What are you-?"

"Aether always refers to me as 'Master.'"

Aether's own eyes narrowed momentarily. They rolled to the side as she sighed. She suddenly grew a couple of inches in height, and her hair grew longer. "Would you prefer _this_ form, then?" Aura's voice came out of her mouth.

A gasp was heard. Standing behind the shifter was Aether, the _real_ Aether, looking up at the image of her late mother with wide eyes. Before anyone could react, the shifter drove their fist into Aether's stomach. With a sweep kick, Aether was on the ground her dominate hand, her right hand, was tight in the shifters grip. Aether was anchored to the ground by the shifter's leg in front of her chest. "You're still slow," the shifter said.

They struck back to Aether's height. Their red hair was shoulder-length with bangs grown out of their eyes, though they were still slightly visible. Their left eye was gold, the left green. They were in a form fitting black and purple suite.

Aether cried out as the shifter twisted her arm. Terra was the first to move, but the shifter summoned their Keyblade and pointed it at Aether. "Take one more step, and torn ligaments are going to be the _least_ of her problems," said the shifter. They locked their eyes on Eraqus with a harsh glare. "Now, I believe you have something to tell dear Aether."

Another cry escaped Aether as the shifter twisted her arm farther. "I already know about Adrian!" Aether shouted.

The shifter cackled. "You think that's what this is about?" they asked with a scoff. "Please. I'd wash my hands of that. We've got something bigger to discuss."

The shifter twisted Aether's arm further. Painful tears slipped out of Aether's eyes. Her arm was going to be torn out of it's socket at if this kept up. What did this person even want?

"Aura was pregnant with twins!" Terra shouted.

Aether's eyes snapped open, and the shifter's gaze turned to the brown haired man. What was he talking about? "What was that?" the shifter asked. "I don't think we quite heard that?"

"It's just as he said," Eraqus said grimly. "We were expecting twins. Aether, you were born, perfectly healthy… Your twin, your sister… she didn't make a sound… she was stillborn."

This appeared to be what the shifter wanted to hear. They released Aether, and took a step back. "So…" Aether gasped, grasping her shoulder. "This whole time, I had a sibling I never knew about?!"

"Just as they wanted it," said the shifter.

"No," Eraqus argued. "Your mother and I wanted to tell you when you were older. I just never knew how to tell you.

"But you had not problem tossing me aside!" the shifter shouted. "Why would you want to remember the dead twin when there was the one living.

"You expect any of us to believe you're the stillborn?" Terra shot back. "You do know what a stillborn is, right?"

"I was given another chance to live," the twin said, covering her green eyes with a purple gloved hand. "And I waited a long time to see this?"

"See what?" Aether whispered.

A grunt came from Eraqus. His eyes became glassy, as he his Keyblade fell to the ground. Dropping to his knees, Eraqus feel forward. Terra reached his arms out to catch him, but the Master vanished in tiny balls of light. Tears slid out Aether's eyes. Her blood felt like ice, even sitting up, she felt like her shoulder weighted a tone.

Aether looked up at her sister, she looked indifferent to this. "Was that it?" she choked out. "He's you're father, too! How could you-"

"He never gave me a name," the shifter said. "So why _should_ I care?"

The shifter walked up to Terra who was mourning his fallen Master. "Such a pitiful sight. Isn't it, Master?"

"Indeed, it is," said Master Xehanort. "Why do you trouble yourself with remorse, Master Terra? The man was bent on doing harm to your friend, his own pupil!"

"What?" Aether questioned.

"Man, talk about a dud," said the shifter.

"Be easy on her, Luna," the old Master advised. "Your sister has dealt with a lot in one day."

"But I've had worse," the sifter, Luna, apparently, argued.

"I suppose you're right. It wasn't easing giving new life to something already dead."

"What 're you saying?" Terra demanded.

"I had a hypothesis. And what better to test it out then on Aura's stillborn? Though the results weren't quite what I had expected, the stillborn was given life, and bears the name of the scarred moon. The sun's reflection, shunned by the light."

"That's sick," Aether choked out. "It was bad enough one of us never had a chance, you couldn't just let her rest peacefully?!"

"Why?" Luna challenged. "So you could have everything?!"

"That's not what I…"

"Not now, Luna," said Xehanort. "This isn't the time nor place to settle this dispute."

"Why?!" Terra demanded. "Why have you done all this?!"

"You know, at times I find your progress quite striking. But you still fall short. Let all that anger out, my boy. Give your heart over to the darkness!"

"What do you mean?" he shouted, summoning his Keyblade.

"Still so blind… Then I will make you see. Come to the place where all Keyblade wielders leave their mark on fate - the Keyblade Graveyard!" Master Xehanort summoned his Keyblade. "There you will watch your dear friends meet their ends, and the last light within you will die!"

Pointing the black Keyblade skyward a dark beam shot into the sky. Aether shielded her face with her good arm as the wind began to pick up. The land was shrouded in darkness. The castle she grew up in was slowly being torn apart bit by bit. "You won't need a home anymore where you're going!" Xehanort declared.

"Hey, Aether," Luna called, walking back into the corridor of darkness with Xehanort. "I'll see you at the Graveyard, too."

Terra chased after them, but was too late when the corridor disappeared. The ground shook violently as a large piece of debris disconnected. "Aether!" Terra called over the wind. "You need to find Ven, and get somewhere safe."

"After that?" she argued. "I need to-"

"I won't let them hurt you!" Terra argued, pulling her close to him. "And I'm not going to ask for your forgiveness. Just listen for once, please."

Without another word, Terra changed into his armor, and took off on his Glider. "Sorry Terra," Aether muttered, slapping her own armor on. "I need to better understand Luna."

* * *

**Authors Note: **_**NO** _the Noctis in this is not the Noctis from Final Fantasy XV.

And shifter is revealed! Here's a hint as to what Xehanort was talking about when he mentioned 'hypothesis.' It's totally relevant to what has been revealed in Dream, Drop, Distance.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen  
****Keyblade Graveyard**

The Keyblade Graveyard Xehanort talked about was a desolate wasteland. Dry sand beneath her feet, warm air blowing her hair about, and Unversed littering the place. Well, not just Unversed, but old Keyblades left to rest by their former wielders. Aether always knew that Keyblade warriors could have been called a knighthood many years ago, but this amount of Keyblades was just astonishing. Thousands, upon thousands it was almost overwhelming.

Aether finally found Terra and Aqua in conversation. Aqua must have already heard about the Master. But, Ven walked up to them just as Aether caught up. "Xehanort wants me and Vanitas to fight," the blonde explained almost immediately upon arrival. "And makes some kind of '_x_-blade.' But the Master said, we can't let that happen and he tried to destroy me for it."

The redhead flinched. So that's what happened before she showed up. "_x_-blade?" Aqua questioned.

Aether was about to ask herself. It sounded like any other Keyblade, so what was the problem? "I still don't know exactly what it is," Ven admitted. He placed a hand over his heart. "But… it scares me to death. Even just the thought of it."

"Relax, Ven," Terra said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We're here fore you and we're gonna take care of you."

"I may have to fight Vanitas after all," the blonde boy said sadly. "If I do, guys… I want you to-"

"Ven, everything going to turn out okay," Aether said, taking his hand into her own. "You'll see."

Aqua knelt down to place a hand on Ven's cheek, reassuringly. "I'm asking you, as a friend," Ven said. He pulling his hand out of Aether's, removed Aqua's from his face, then Terra's from his shoulder. "Just… put an end to me."

Aether felt her hands tremble slightly. Put an end to one of her best friends? How could she be expected to do that? No, Ven was asking for the impossible.

The groups heads turned to the side. Xehanort was walking up to them, arm's folded behind his back. He almost seemed oblivious as to where they were. The boy in the mask, Vanitas, and Luna walked close beside him. The three stopped in front of the four, Xehanort extended his arm out, gesturing to the countless Keyblades in the ground. "Behold. These lifeless keys used to be full of power-united with the heart of their masters. On this barren soil, Keyblades of light and darkness were locked in combat as a great Keyblade war raged.

"Countless Keyblade wielders gave up their lives, all in search of one, ultimate key. And it will soon belong to me…"

He pointed at Ven. "_x_-blade."

Without another word, Terra, Aqua, Ventus, and Aether slammed their hand's onto armor on their shoulders. In seconds, they stood, donning their armor of various colors. Earthy colors for Terra, blues for Aqua, greens and grey's for Ven, and yellows for Aether.

Ven took a step forward, but was pushed back by Terra. He ran up to Master Xehanort with the full intention of striking the elderly Master, if not worse. Unfazed by the suddenly action Xehanort lifted his hand, causing the ground to shoot up where Terra stood. Standing up, Terra looked up to see Xehanort, and the ground he stood on, shoot higher into the air.

The old Master brought his hand down. The old, discarded Keyblades were violently pulled out of their resting places, whizzing through the air. "Guys!" Aqua shouted, warning Ven and Aether.

Vanitas leaped onto one of the Keyblade, sailing through the air as though he were surfing on a board in the ocean. Ven leaped into the air, and over the Keyblades just as Vanitas passed him. The storm of Keyblades traveled high into the air, and three Terra to the ground, then suddenly crashed into Aqua. "Aqua!" Aether shouted, running to her.

Sitting on one of the rocky ledges, Luna smirked. The storm of Key's carried Aether away. She was hurtled into the nearest cliff side. The Keyblades bashed into her, they felt like bullets against her armor. Someone, Aether got the feeling they would have had the same effect if it wasn't for her armor. But, even then, it would only last for so long. The Keyblades were chipping away at her helmet.

"Aether!" Terra shouted, jumping in between her, and the Key's

Vanitas suddenly directed the cyclone, along with Terra, high into the air. A helmet-less Aqua, recovering from her own encounter with the Key's cried out Terra's name and pointed her Keyblade at him. Terra was now engulfed in Reflect magic. Falling out of the ball, Terra landed on the ground in front of Xehanort.

Aether slid to the ground, her own helmet now in pieces. Removing it, she tossed her helmet to the ground. "Aether!" she heard Aqua call for her.

"I'm still… I'm still here!"

With a slight growl, Ven quickly made it up the cliff to his former Master. As the boy ran up to him, Xehanort pulled out his own Keyblade, ready for a counter. But one was needed. By the time Ven launched himself into the air, Xehanort somehow teleported out of Ven's path, much to his surprise. He was suddenly grabbed form behind and held up off the ground by Xehanort, struggling in his grip.

Terra shouted Ven's name. He leaped up for an attack when Vanitas and the Keyblade cyclone suddenly threw him off the cliff.

On ground level, Aether pulled herself onto her feet. It was too quiet, for too long. "Ven!" she heard Aqua shout.

Aether's head snapped up to the top of the cliff. Ven was struggling in Xehanort's grip. His helmet cracked as the old Master cast a Blizzard spell. Ven was completely immobilized, if not dead. "Ven!" Aether shouted.

The old man allowed Ven to slip from his grip, and plummet back to the earth. Ven's head bashed against the cliff side, shattering his helmet. What happened was almost in slow motion for Aether. She forced herself to move forward in time to catch Ven, though the force knocked her down as well. "Ven, are you okay?!" Aether breathed, repositioning herself so she could get a better look at him.

His helmet was gone, and the spell seemed to reach the inside of his armor too. Ven's face was covered in frost. But his eye's were still moving, and he responded with a slight moan. "Is he alright?!" Aqua asked, rushing up to the two.

"I think so," Aether nodded. "He's still alive."

* * *

Luna appeared by her Master's side as a ball of darkness formed in his hand. He lifted his hand above his head, the ball shot out, rocketing into the sky. The dark clouds parted to reveal a large blue, heart-shaped moon. The girl's on ground level looked up in awe at the sight.

A few miles away, an anthropomorphic mouse, dressed in black, watched the parting clouds. Hopefully, he wasn't too late.

* * *

Aether's head turned from side to side. Where was Luna? She hadn't seen her since…

The redhead looked back up at the towering pillar Xehanort stood. "I'll be back as soon as I can," Aether said, handing Ven to Aqua. "There's something I need to take care of."

"Aether, it's too dangerous!" Aqua argued.

"I know!" she shot back. "But I need to… Agh! It'll take too long to explain right now!"

Turning her Keyblade into a glider, Aether hopped on, and sailed higher into the air, leaving Aqua confused. "How 'bout you leave the popsicle with me," a new voice said. A man walked up to Aqua and Ven. He had black hair, an a very noticeable scar on his face. His right eye had a patch over it. "So you can have your little fight with Terra. You can't be happy about him deep-sixing your Master."

"Who are you?" Aqua demanded.

"You think you guy's have some grand role to play," the man, Braig, said. "As if. You're only here so that when I finish you off Terra will succumb to the darkness. So… who want's to go first?"

"Shut up!" shouted Ven.

"_Oh_," Braig said in a mock of surprise. "So this kiddo thinks he's a full-fledged Keyblade wieldier? He's got the angry look down."

"Go ahead if you want to waist your time," Aqua argued. "Keep trying to drive us apart with your mind games. It'll never work!"

She placed Ven onto the ground, as he struggled to move his body. "Terra will prove to you he's stronger!" Aqua declared, summoning her Keyblade.

* * *

Terra dismissed his armor upon meeting Xehanort and his two apprentices at the top of the mound. "Admirably done," said Xehanort. "I knew this was a journey you could make - over the unseen wall that divides light and darkness. And I was not wrong, Terra!"

Terra creased his brow. Slowly, he lifted one hand, to summon his faithful Keyblade. "My friend, Ven…" he said slowly. "You tell me, Xehanort - what did you do to him?!

"Why, I did him a favor and freed the darkness inside him," Xehanort explained. "Alas, poor Ventus never had the fortitude for such strenuous trials."

A grunt was heard, Aether landed nimbly on her feet and walked up to Terra. "What about Luna?" she asked. "Was she part of this '_x_-blade' Ven mentioned?"

"Why are you pretending to care?" Luna shot back. "You didn't even know about me until a few hours ago."

"Parish the thought," Xehanort said with a shake of the head. "No. Luna was just a stepping stone to beyond the Keyblade War."

Growling, Terra broke forward. His Keyblade met with Vanitas'. Aether wasted no time summoning her own. Vanitas was, actually, pretty challenging. He wasn't a pushover, that much was certain. Aether noticed that Luna stood at the side, watching the battle, unhappily. It dawned on Aether that Xehanort was making her wait.

Tossing Vanitas away, Terra clashed blades with Xehanort. The old Master smirked, his gaze turned to Vanitas, who climbed back onto his feet. "Go take what Ventus owes you," he instructed the boy in the mask. "And takes Aqua's life. Luna, take what should have been yours."

A wicked smirk played on the girl with a gold eye. "_Gladly_!" she said giddily. Her Keyblade appeared in her hand.

Vanitas was already headed for the edge of the cliff. Terra made his attempt to catch him, but the masked boy was already off the cliff. Luna tackled Aether to the ground. They slid to the very edge of the cliff. Before Terra could even come to Aether's aid, Xehanort appeared, blocking his path. "See how powerless you are to save them?" the old Master asked. "Savor that rage and despair. Let it empower you!"

Terra could feel his rage building up. Everything, was Xehanort's doing, but it still wasn't enough. ""You will pay, Xehanort!" Terra shouted, seemingly unaware of the darkness radiating from his body. "Was my Master - no, my father, Eraqus not enough for you? Leave my friends alone!"

Meanwhile, Aether struggled against Luna. Arioso was held out in front of her, as her twin tried to drive her own into Aether's chest. She heard a sudden yell. "Terra…" she gasped.

"Never mind him!" shouted Luna. Her voice rose with each word. "You're fight is with _me_!"

She needed to think of something. The others needed her. But so didn't Luna. "Fight _with_ me, Luna," Aether pleaded. "We're-"

"Do not finish that with 'family,'" growled Luna. "None of you ever cared about me! None of you ever cared that I was there the whole time!"

"Huh?"

"Don't think I never dropped by to see what was going on. I never began training with my Keyblade until Vanitas was born, Xehanort probably forgot me for a while, so I had a lot of time to myself…"

_The Land of Departure was shrouded in start lit night. She walked out of the corridor, her hands close to her chest. Luna hadn't seen much of Master Xehanort lately, so she was often alone. But he at least taught her how to use the corridors, so, if nothing else, she could see the various worlds._

_Luna wanted to see this world in particular. Xehanort said she had family in this world, her mother had died, but she had a father and a twin. She had known this for years, but this was the first time she had ever set foot in the Land of Departure. Not since Xehanort gave her life, that is. _

_She made her way to one of the windows, and pulled herself up to see. There was a girl her own age, with the same hair as Luna. She was busy in a scrimmage with a couple of older kids. One, a boy with brown hair, and a girl with blue hair. They looked like they were having fun, like they were pretty close, like they didn't have a care in the world._

_There was a sudden piece of lead in Luna's chase. She should have been in there too. Why wasn't she? Why was she the one who came out dead? Didn't her sister care that her twin was gone? What about their father, did he care?_

_To Luna's surprise tears slid out of her eyes. It wasn't fair, why should her sister get everything? _

"So that's it…" Aether whispered. "You're really just a very lonely little girl…"

Luna's multi-colored snapped open, widening all the while. The ground began to rumble over Terra's enraged yell. A sudden blast tossed both girls over the edge of the cliff.

…

"I keep forgetting," Braig panted. His battle against the Keyblade Master went less than expected. "Don't mess with Keyblade wielders. But you know what? That just means I made the right choice."

Gritting her teeth, Aqua ran up to Braig, aiming to finish the job. "Well," the black haired man said nonchalantly. "He told me to buy time, and I'd say he got it."

Aqua slid to a stop. "What?"

Ven struggled. He was still pretty frozen, his limps still wouldn't move. He gasped. "Aqua!"

Vanitas suddenly dropped down, striking down Aqua before she could register Ven's warning. The blonde began to panic as Vanitas raised his Keyblade above Aqua, ready to strike her heart. Steam was beginning to rise from Ven's armor. Vanitas thrust his Keyblade down, but stopped in place when Ven shouted out.

The masked boy looked to the side. Ven had successfully freed himself from the ice. He stood up, his Keyblade held in his usual reverse grip, with a look of absolute hatred directed at Vanitas.

* * *

Aether grabbed onto Luna's hand as they fell. Her free hand reached out, grabbing onto a ledge. It didn't look like they were that far down, they probably could have climbed back up easily. But, holding both Aether's weight and Luna's was proving to be a bit difficult. "We can climb back up," Aether said, looking back down at Luna. Her sister was unresponsive. Her head hung, looking down at the ground below them. A straight drop. "Come on, Luna. I'll help you."

Slowly, Luna looked up at Aether. Tears streamed out of her eyes, which carried a look of despair. Luna really did look like a lonely child at that moment. "No you can't…"

Luna released her grip on Aether's hand. She fell straight to the ground miles below. Aether looked, stunned as Luna's body hit the ground. She could have survived that, couldn't she? She had to…

A gasp came out of Aether's mouth as the rock she held onto was beginning to give way under her weight. Quickly, she turned her attention to the task at hand, and began climbing up.

* * *

Vanitas was slumped the ground, having lost out to Ven just moments ago. He pulled himself onto his feet, darkness surrounding him, he allowed his Keyblade to disappear. "You've done it Ventus," the masked boy said. The mask covering Vanitas' face seemed to 'melt' away. Underneath the mask was a young face, spiky black hair, and gold eyes. "Now that my body is about to perish you and I will have to join together! The _x_-blade will be forged!"

A dark circle formed around the two as Unversed jumped out, latching themselves onto Ven to hold him down. "The Unversed…" Ven said, struggling against their grip. The realization suddenly dawned on him. "Come from you?"

Vanitas smirked. "It happened when you and I were split into two," he explained. Various forms of Unversed appeared at his side. "The negativity took shape as these monsters. They are what I feel - a horde of fledgling emotions under my control. I released them in all the worlds I could, hoping to lure you away from home and isolate you from your Master. We needed to make you stronger. The Unversed were the perfect opponents. And better yet, no matter how many times you defeat them… their negativity flows right back into me. You never stood a chance against us, Ventus."

Walking forward the Unversed returned to Vanitas' person. He gave one last dark smirk at Ven before merging back into one. A powerful surge blew Aqua back. A bright light filled the area as a strong beam shot into the air.

Still climbing back to the top, Aether hugged the cliff side as the beam shot up past her. "Ven!" she gasped.

Xehanort slammed his Keyblade into the ground as he fell to his knees. He had succeeded in getting Terra to succumb to the darkness. Now there were only a couple of things left to do. And just in time, a ray of light shot into the sky, much to Terra's confusion. "There, you see," Xehanort asked, pointing to the sky. Hesitantly, Terra turned around to see the light. "The _x_-blade has been forged!"

"Ven!" Terra shouted.

"And now, Terra," Xehanort went on, raising his Keyblade over his head, aiming it at his chest. "It's time for the final union!"

"What?" Terra asked, turning himself around.

Smirking to himself, Xehanort drove the tip of his own Keyblade into his chest, and said, "At last, our moment is here."

A ball of light hovered out of his chest. "Out with this old an brittle vessel, and in a younger, stronger, new one!"

Terra watched as Xehanort's heart hovered above their heads and Xehanort went on, "I swore I would survive, and be there to see what awaited beyond the Keyblade War! And now it is your darkness that shall be the ark that sustains me!"

Aether pulled herself back up, staring, confused at the sight before her. Xehanort rose his hand above his head, directing his heart at Terra. The young man slapped his armor on. "Terra!" Aether shouted.

But it was too late. The damage was done. Xehanort smiled with satisfaction as his former body disappeared into small ball's of light, leaving Terra alone. Slowly, if not cautiously, Aether approached her friend. "Terra?" she asked in a mousy tone.

He stood for a few moment's when his armor suddenly fell off of him and he dropped his Keyblade. His appearance had changed now. His hair was no longer dark brown, but silvery, and eyes no longer blue, but gold. Master Xehanort had taken over. "No…" Aether gasped.

Xehanort opened his hand, summoning his Keyblade. He stepped forward, leaving the discarded armor behind without a second thought. Aether felt anger running through her. She summoned her Keyblade. Ven's possible death wasn't enough? Luna was enough? The Master wasn't enough?

Gripping her Keyblade in both hands, Aether ran up to Xehanort, all while letting out an enraged yell. Something that quickly proved to be very stupid on her part. Xehanort whipped around, clashing blades with Aether. But Xehanort had the upper hand, boxing Aether back to the edge of the edge of the cliff. Aether tried to maneuver around, and regain upper hand. But in a swift movement, Arioso was knocked out of Aether's hand.

She screamed as the Keyblade was driven through her chest. "This heart belongs to the darkness," Xehanort said, pulling his Keyblade out Aether's chest. "All worlds begin in darkness, and also end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it. It grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came."

By some miracle, Aether still stood, though, her breathing was uneven, and vision was beginning to distort. She couldn't do anything as Xehanort walked off. But, within an instant orange chains suddenly kept him boxed in, much to Xehanort's surprise. The silver haired man turned around, to rind Terra's discarded armor, now acting with a will of it's own. Or perhaps, Terra's will. "Terra…" Aether gasped with a smile.

Finally, she lost her balance and fell back, straight for the ground below her. Much like Luna just moments ago.

Terra's armor appeared to be kneeling with Terra's Keyblade in it's hands. "Your body submits," Xehanort said, angry and bewildered. "Your heart succumbs, so why does your mind resist?"

Standing up Terra' Lingering Will pulled his Keyblade out from the dirt, and prepared to battle Xehanort.

* * *

Ven opened his eyes to find himself standing on a stain glass platform. "Our union was not finished," he heard Vanitas say. He landed on the platform with an old, dirtied _x_-blade in his hand. "The _x_-blade shouldn't stay broken like this. Join me now, and we can complete the _x_-blade!"

Ven shook his head and reached his hand out. "I've got a better idea," he said. His Wayward Wind formed in his hand. "How 'bout I destroy you both?"

"The _x_-blade is made of your heart, too, idiot," Vanitas laughed. "If you destroy it, your heart will vanish forever."

"What ever it takes. Anything to save them."

"Hmph, it's always about your friends, isn't it?"

"At least I have some! I've become a part of their hearts, just as they've become a part of mine. My friend are my power, and I'm theirs!"

* * *

Aqua's eyes snapped open. "Gosh," she heard. "I'm glad you're okay."

She turned her head to the side to see Mickey, someone she met on her travels earlier, looking down at her. Slowly, she pulled herself up, her head felt like she was hit with a rock. "Ven!" she gasped.

She shot onto her feet. Ven didn't look like he was near by. Until she spotted him just standing in place with a blank expression. Relief washed over her as Aqua ran up to Ven. "Ven?" she asked, upon running up to him. He didn't respond.

Mickey followed close behind Aqua. He nearly leapt back at the sight of the weapon in Ven's hand. Ventus snapped his head up, revealing a pair of gold eyes, replacing his blue ones. He trust the _x_-blade forward, but was blocked by Mickey's Starseeker Keyblade.

Aqua stumbled back as Mickey landed in front of her. "That's not Ven!" the mouse said darkly.

"Correct," Ven's armor suddenly transformed into a skin-tight suite. "I am not Ventus. His heart has become part of mine now. This _x_-blade will open a door-one that leads to all worlds! Then, Keyblade-bearing warriors will flock here from each and every one of them, to battle for the light within Kingdom Hearts! And just like the legend says, the Keyblade War will begin!"

"Shut up!" Aqua shouted. "I'm sick of your nonsense! Give Ven his heart back!"

She gasped, as Aqua spotted a blur of yellow and red plummeting to the ground. "Aether!" she shouted.

Sprinting forward, Aqua shoved Vanitas out of her path. Diving down Aqua managed to catch Aether. The younger girl was gasping for breath, her eyes looked up at Aqua, pleading for her help. There was a golden-white glow coming from Aether's chest, she was fighting to keep herself together. "Aether," Aqua said, pounding Aether's armor on. "Stay with me."

Vanitas sneered. "She's done for," he said.

"Shut up!" Aqua snapped, getting up with Aether in her arms. "I'll force you out of Ven's heart if I have to."

The bluenette hurried to a large rock formation. Aether should have been safe there. "I'll try to be fast," she reassured her friend as she set Aether down. "Just hang in there."

Aether tried to plead with Aqua not to leave her. Because she wasn't sure she _could_ hang in there. Aether's eyes became blank as her heart left her. Her eyes fluttered close, unaware of the dark aura surrounding her.

* * *

Xehanort fell back, having been defeated by Terra's Lingering Will. He shoved his Earthshaker Keyblade back into the ground and fell back to his knees.

* * *

Vanitas grinned as Aqua and Mickey ran up to him. With a sweep of the _x_-blade the two were flown black. Aqua was slammed against a rock and slid into a sitting position. She groaned taking a moment to breath.

"What's wrong?" Vanitas asked, approaching her. "Giving up already?"

Breathing heavily Aqua looked down at her Wayfinder in her hand. "Guy's…" she panted. "Lend me strength."

The charm glowed slightly. Suddenly her own Keyblade began to glow in correspondence. With a new resolve, Aqua stood up and charged at Vanitas. "You're just wasting your energy," he said thrusting the _x_-blade.

The two weapons clashed, neither wielder backing down. Aqua let out a yell and pushed against the _x_-blade. Vanitas was knocked back as the _x_-blade flew in the air. It slowed down until it hung in mid-air. A light surrounded the _x_-blade and rays of light shot around the area.

Mickey slowly came to his senses and stood up in surprise upon seeing the sight before him. "Oh, no," he exclaimed. "It's gone all haywire!"

He rushed up to them despite the dangers that were probably there.

Aqua's eyes were shielded from the light. She saw Ven's armor replace the suite, hopefully that was a good sign. Finally, the _x_-blade shattered into small pieces and disappeared. Thought the light didn't stop.

Ven's body was carried away with Aqua following close behind. He was thrown into the air. Aqua leapt up and reached out for him. He nearly slipped out of her hands, but she managed to latch on. "Aether!" she gasped, turning back to her yellow-clad friend. Where was she?

Aqua saw Aether be carried off farther into the distance. "No!" Aqua cried as both she, and Ven were carried off.

* * *

The ground started to shake as a white light almost seemed to eat away at everything. Terra's thought's where filled with memories of his friends. Of Aqua, of Ven, and of Aether. Someone who was more important to him than she would ever know.

The clouds circled above him, slowly covering Kingdom Hearts.

"Aqua, Ven, Aether… One day I will set this right."

* * *

Ven knocked the broken _x_-blade out of Vanitas' hand. He reached out for it like a child, but was unable to grasp it. The blade began to glow then shattered into small pieces. Ven allowed his own Keyblade to vanish. Vanitas slowly fell before he broke in to small ball's of light.

As Ven landed the darkness around lifted. Fully knowing what was to become of him Ven smiled as his heart was freed from his body.

* * *

Drifting in the Lanes Between an unconscious Aqua held onto Ven's hand. The friendly mouse, with a Star Shard in hand approached the two. He grabbed onto Aqua's hand and allowed the Shard to take them away to someplace safe.

Hopefully this time, it would take him to the place he wanted to go.

* * *

_This place…  
__I've been here…  
__So warm…  
__I remember it now…  
__This is your heart._

* * *

**Authors Note: **And this chapter is done. And it is the longest chapter so far.

Looks like Xehanort's plan to _live long and prosper _hit a few bumps. *rimshot* You have my permission to hit me for that…

Aaaaaand, you have my permission to hit me for this, too. I decided not to go through with the rewrite. I'm just going to go back and edit over the course of a few months. It'll take a few months because I have over a hundred chapters to re-read. But, the title of this story is going to remain the same. I decided that 'Door to Blank' or 'Blank Door' will only apply to the current generation.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Chapter Seventeen  
****Final Stand**

"Where am I?" was the first question Aqua asked when she opened her eyes.

"Aqua," she heard from behind her. "You lost consciousness."

She turned her head around to find Master Yen Sid. "Fortunately Mickey found you and Ventus drifting in the Lanes Between, and brought you back to me to receive proper care. I am sorry, but there was no sign of Terra."

"I see," Aqua said, the pain in her voice obvious. "And Aether?"

"I'm afraid Aether's heart has been separated from her body," Yen Sid explained. "Her heart's has been corrupted by the darkness. Should you find her body and heart, I'm afraid her heart will have manifested into something other than herself."

"You mean… an Unversed?"

"No. Something else entirely."

Aqua could almost feel her heart drop. But she couldn't allow herself to get distracted by her emotions. Especially if there was hope to rescue Aether and Terra. She turned herself around to find Ven seated on the floor, leaning against the wall. "Ven," she said gently shaking him. He wouldn't wake up. "Ventus!"

"The boy's heart is sleeping," said Yen Sid.

"When will he wake?"

The old sorcerer lowered his head. "I could not say. It is almost as if his heart has left. Should it return, he may very well wake. Should it not, then he may sleep like this for all eternity."

"No," Aqua said, distraught. So now it seemed like she had lost all three of her friends. No, this wasn't the time to think like this. There was still a glimmer of hope. "I'll keep him safe - until he wakes. Forever if I have to."

"I will tell you what your friend needs right now," said Yen Sid. "It is not your protection. He needs you to believe. You see, Ventus' heart hangs in the balance. It sleeps in the place between light and darkness. From all I can perceive, that mean's he will be looking for a friend - one who believes in him, to show him the way home. Just as long as you love him then Ventus will be able to find you when he wakes. He can follow that love, back to where he belongs - the realm of light."

"Don't you worry Aqua!" Mickey said cheerfully. "I believe in Ven, too. Gosh, he's been as good a friend to me as anybody. And if both you and me believe in him with all of our hearts then he'll have two lights to follow instead of one."

"Four lights," Aqua corrected with a smile. This seemed to confuse the mouse. "Terra and Aether."

"But…" the mouse began, his cheerfulness quickly vanished. "They're both gone. Maybe for good."

Aqua shook her head and took out her Wayfinder. "I think I know how to find them."

* * *

With Ven on her back, Aqua left the tower. She had to find a safe place for Ven before she could find Terra and Aether. Just when she was wondering where to go, Ven's body acted on it's own. He held his hand out, summoning his Keyblade, then opening a path. "All right," Aqua nodded. "If that's where you want to go."

Adjusting her grip on Ven she walked through the portal and was surprised by what she found on the other side. It was the Land of Departure, or what was left of it. The castle had been torn apart, the grounds in ruins, and their late Master's Keyblade rested at the bottom of the stairs.

She reached down to pick it up, remember the promises she made, and failed to keep. It seemed to easy back then. If only she could turn back time, Aqua might have tried harder. But, what's done is done. The only thing left to do is move foreword.

Inside Aqua placed Ven in the throne room. She was about to do what Master Eraqus had instructed, should something like this ever happen. Lock the land away.

After seating down Ven in one of the thrones, Aqua positioned herself behind the three thrones. She aimed the Keyblade at the middle throne, where the outline of a keyhole appeared. A light glowed from the end of the Keyblade, nearly blinding her in the process.

When Aqua opened her eyes the room had been changed. It was white, with a single throne, where Ven slept. If what the Master said was true, she would be the only one to find Ven. At least he would be safe.

"I know it's a lonely place," Aqua said, stroking the back of Ven's head. "But you'll be safe. Terra, Aether, and I will be back to wake you up before you know it."

Outside Castle Oblivion Aqua gave it one last look. Now there was only one thing left to do.

"_Aqua… put and end to me."_

"Guy's," Aqua said, looking down at her Wayfinder. "Tell me where to find you."

* * *

Aqua found herself in Radiant Garden. It was the middle of the night, probably for the best. She found Terra staring up at the sky with a blank look on his face. Aqua hurried to his side, but kept herself at a distance she deemed safe. "Terra?" she asked.

He looked down and reached out for Aqua. She stepped back, feeling that something was wrong. If his hair and eye color wasn't a dead giveaway.

But Aqua couldn't step back fast enough as his hand wrapped around her neck and lifted her off the ground. "Who… am I?" He asked, darkness radiating from his body.

"Such a… terrible darkness," Aqua managed to say. She pleaded with her friend, "Fight it! Terra, please!"

"Terra, you say," he asked, releasing her.

He gripped his head as though he where in pain. "Terra's hear has been extinguished," said Xehanort. "Smothered by the darkness within him."

He summoned his Keyblade and drew back to strike at Aqua. She leapt back and out of the way. "My name," she said, summoning her Keyblade. "Is Master Aqua. Now return my friend's heart or pay the price!"

One way or another Aqua was going to break Xehanort's hold on Terra. That proved to be a little difficult. Was it Xehanort that had the stronger hold, or the darkness? It could have easily been a mixture of both.

It wasn't until Terra's body started to glow did any hope shine thorough. "Stop fighting back," Xehanort ordered.

"Terra," Aqua called. "I know you're in there!"

As thought the two heart's where fighting for control Terra managed to point the tip of Xehanorts Keyblade at the chest area. "This will teach you," Terra threatened. "Get out of my heart!"

And just like that, he stabbed himself in the chest. "Terra!" shouted Aqua

The Keyblade fell to the ground beside him. A dark guardian appeared from behind Terra's body. The guardian fell in to a pool of darkness with Terra following suite. Not allowing the darkness to have Terra any more than it already had, Aqua jumped in after him.

* * *

Aqua used her Glider to help catch up with Terra. "The darkness can't have you!" she exclaimed revering the Glider up as far as it would allow.

She finally caught up with Terra, and managed to get a good grip on him. Turning the Glider around they whizzed up to the portal, but it was going to close at any moment now. _'I have to do something,' _Aqua thought. _'Or we'll both be lost.'_

There was only one thing she could think of. But it would come at a hefty price. Aqua phased out of her armor and revered the Glider back to her Keyblade. The armor had a good grip on Terra, hopefully this will get him back into the realm of light faster. "I'm with you," Aqua reassured, placing her Keyblade in his hand. A sort of mist surrounded the armor, and the man it held onto. "Go!"

The suite of armor rocketed through the darkness. It _had_ to break through now. But, Aqua would be stuck in the realm of darkness. And, she wouldn't be able to find Aether's body and heart, or wake Ven. "Ven, Aether…" Aqua said slowly, falling into the darkness. "I'm sorry. I might not be back as soon as I thought. But I promise I'll be there one day for you."

* * *

The next morning in Radiant Garden Braig lead their sage-king, Ansem the Wise, and fellow apprentice Dilan, to the Central Square. A young man with silver hair laid, passed, out on the ground, with a suit of armor and a strange key near by.

Ansem knelt down beside him and lifted his head. "Young man, what ails you," he asked him. The man's golden eyes opened, but he seemed a little disoriented. "Can you speak? Tell me your name."

The man struggled to find his voice, but managed to say in a horse voice, "Xeha…nort."

"Xehanort?"

A knowing grin played on Braig's face as "Xehanort," passed out again. "Quickly," Ansem said, turning to his apprentices. "Get him to the castle!"

"You can count on me," Braig said. He managed to lift the unconscious man with. "Dilan, get those for me."

He gestured to the suite of armor and Keyblade that where found beside Xehanort.

* * *

It was night on Destiny Islands. Three young island children where laying on the sand looking up at the night sky. "Hey," Riku said sitting up. "I'm gonna head back."

Sora let out a groan as he sat up. "Yeah, me too."

"Kay," Tian smiled. She stood up to dust off her backside.

The three walked off the beach, and would have headed back to town, if Riku hadn't noticed something. "Sora, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Huh?"

The group stopped in their tracks. Tian peered at Sora's face to find him crying. The boy reached up to his right eye and felt the wet streak that ran down it. "That's weird," he said. It really wasn't like him to crying like that. "It's like something's squeezing me inside."

"Somebody up there must be sad," said Riku.

"What do you mean?" Tian asked. "Up where?"

"They say every world is connected by one great big sky. So maybe there's somebody up there in all those worlds who's really hurting, and they're waiting for you to help them."

"Well, gee," said Sora. "Do you think there's something I could do?"

Riku crossed his arm's and through for a moment. "Maybe they just need you to open your heart and listen to them."

"Are you making this up?" Tian asked, folding her arm's behind her back.

"No," Riku shook his head. "You'd pick up on this stuff to if you paid attention."

"I pay attention!"

"I dunno Riku," Sora said his hands behind his head. "You say some pretty weird things. But I'll try it!"

"Okay."

"_Hey. Can you hear me?"_

* * *

**Authors Note:** You know, I was going to wait a bit to post the last few chapters but… they're mostly the same as when I first wrote this story. Just edited a bit. So… yeah.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Chapter Sixteen  
****Another Chance**

There were many worlds in this sea of starts. And in those worlds were people who may never meet, but had one thing in common.

The travelers the met.

And while fate wasn't so kind to those four, for the time being, the worlds were at peace.

* * *

Queen Minnie, along with Chip, Dale, Horace, Clarabelle and Pluto cheered as Huey, Dewey, and Louie sped long the race tracks. It was a close race but Huey came out the victor, much to the disappointment of his brothers.

* * *

The witch, Maleficent looked up at the castle, sure enough the kingdom was celebrating the return of their Princess Aurora. While that hurt her pride a bit, it was nothing in comparison to what _that boy _gave her years ago. But, no matter, in the end, she would have the last laugh. "Enjoy your happy ending while you can, Aurora," the witch said with a menacing grin. "Your heart will be back in my clutches soon enough."

Inside the castle the three good fairies watched happily as Aurora danced across the ballroom with Prince Phillip. They couldn't be happier for her. That is, until Flora caught side of Aurora's gown.

The dress the three made for Aurora for her birthday. It was _blue_. That blasted Merrywether changed the color when she wasn't looking. "Pink," Flora muttered, turning the dress back to pink.

Merrywether wasn't going to take this sitting down. Soon Aurora's dress was switching back and forth between pink and blue. But, the prince and princess remained oblivious.

* * *

In another world, Prince Charmant, and his new princess were dancing the night away. Cinderella couldn't be happier.

Overhead Jaq watched, happy that Cinderella's dream finally came true. Behind the little mouse the Fairy Godmother appeared and gave her wand a wave. Fireworks went off over the newlyweds.

* * *

The seven dwarfs marched up in a straight line, singing there usually song. Snow White and Prince Florian stood at the top of a hill overlooking a meadow. They both were surprised when their little friends walked up to they. The dwarfs circled around Snow White and Florian and threw flower petals into the air.

* * *

Little Morgan sat on the stone stairs that lead up to the castle, reading her magic book. Her brother and Lea were, once again, trying to sneak into the castle. It was kind of bad when a six-year-old could see the holes in the plain.

"Come on, you and me, I can take ya!" she heard. Without a second thought, Morgan snapped her book shut and stuffed it into Moogle bag.

Standing up she could see one of wise Ansem's apprentices, Dilan carry off Isa and Lea by the back's of their collars. Lea was ranting about how he could have taken them down, while Isa looked annoyed at the fact that they got caught.

Dilan toss them to the ground. "I went easy on you, two," he warned. "Keep that in mind if you want to try that stunt again."

"You just got lucky!" Lea argued. "I could've taken you on!"

"I told you it wouldn't work," Morgan said walking up to them. "Hey, take a look at what I can do!"

"Don't you get tired of being smart-alecky," Isa asked.

"It not being smart, it's common sense. Don't you want to see what I can do?"

"Not now," the boy's said in unison.

The three later where talking outside a small shop run by Moogles and old Scrooge McDuck, who was trying to sell a very popular frozen treat, sea-salt ice cream. "Hey," Lea said, catching the old ducks attention. "Three please."

"Nice doing business with ye, laddie," the duck said trading three ice cream bars for his munny.

"So are you going to try that again?" Morgan asked, taking a bite of ice cream.

"Eh, eventually."

"Here's a suggestion," Isa said. "How about we try something that isn't so obvious?"

"Ah, c'mon," Lea argued. "We could've made it if that Dilan guy didn't sneak up on us."

"With that hair color, and that orange vest, you don't exactly scream 'I-blend-in,'" said Morgan.

"Coming from the girl with the red hat," Lea said, snatching the cap from the girl's head.

"Hey, give that back!" Morgan shouted, reaching out of her cap, but she was just out of reach.

"Lea, just give her hat back," Isa said.

"Why?" Lea laughed, enjoying his young tormenter squirm. "I want to enjoy watching her struggle while she's this small."

Morgan growled. She muttered under her breath, "Aero."

Lea's ice cream bar was pulled out of his hand by a gust of wind. In his confused daze, Morgan snatched her cap back. When the wind died, the ice cream fell to the ground. "Not bad," Isa compliment.

"I try," Morgan said innocently.

"Okay, one of you do realize you owe me, right?" Lea pointed out.

* * *

Zack watched Hercules work on his push-up's with Phil egging him on. He had to admit, Herc just might actually go the distance.

However, a black feather caught his attention.

* * *

626 looked down at his newly-replaced Wayfinder. He wanted to meet those four again, but it was proving very difficult to find them. Perhaps, 626 could find a friend that could stay a while longer.

Maybe he could find himself a name, rather than a number.

* * *

Slightly and Cubby hauled the treasure chest to Mother Tree while Peter Pan was doing what he did best. Make a fool out of Hook.

Peter spotted Hook and Mr. Smee crouched down behind a bush, most likely scheming something, no doubt. Flying down Peter carefully took off Hook's hat without him noticing.

* * *

Briag entered his privet holdings. "Hey, guess what Moonshine," he said closing the door. "We just found the old coot outside."

Luna, resting in Briag's bed, was unresponsive. She survived her fall, nearly scaring Briag in the process. He brought her back to Radiant Garden, on the off chance Xehanort still needed her. However, Luna remained in a catatonic state.

* * *

Donald and Goofy watched sadly as Mickey walked up to Yen Sid's desk. There wasn't anyway the retired Keyblade Master would allow him to continue. Not after he took off with his Star Shard without permission, and had failed to do anything to help the three Keyblade apprentices, and Aqua.

Unable to look his Master in the eyes Mickey placed the Star Shard, and the Starseeker on his desk. He turned around to walk out the door, his head lowered. Yen Sid suddenly cleared it throat, and walked up to Mickey with the Keyblade in hand.

The mouse looked up at the sorcerer, unsure if he should take it or not. Yen Sid gave him an nod off approval. Thrilled, the newly appointed Keyblade Master accepted the Starseeker.

* * *

In another part of Radiant Garden a little girl with short red hair was crouched down, picking a handful of flowers. The girl, Kairi, looked up at the sky, for some reason, she could feel that something was wrong. But everything was so peaceful, what could be wrong?

The neck she wore flashed in light a couple of times. The spell Aqua placed on it reacting.

* * *

"_Hey. Can you hear me?"_

Ven followed the light. He could remember it clearly now. After Vanitas was born Xehanort planed on dropping off on the island he grew up in. But his injured heart was healed by the heart of a newborn. And just when he needed help again, he finds that heart again, now four-years-old.

"Hey," Sora called. "Can you hear me?"

The boy found himself standing on a platform with images reminiscent of his islands. Ven's heart floated up to the child remembering the light he felt from him four years ago.

"_I heard your voice. It cut through the darkness around me. All alone, I followed the sound, into a sea of light, and found myself here, with you."_

Sora reached out his hands, and allowed the heart to float above his hands. _"You gave me something back when I needed it most,"_ Ven continued. _"A second chance."_

"I did?" Sora asked. Of course he wouldn't remember, he was a baby at the time.

"_But," _Ven started. _"Now I have to go back to sleep again."_

"Are you sad?"

"_Would you mind if I stayed here, with you?"_

"Sure. If that'll make you feel better."

"_Thank you."_

Sora brought his hands close to his chest, guiding Ven into his heart. The boy told himself that he would allow the heart to stay with him as long as it needed.

When the boy opened his eyes he found his friends look at him with curiosity. "Well?" Riku asked.

"Did it work?" Tian asked with full interest.

"You know," Sora smiled, folding his arm's behind his head. "I think it did."

Smiling the three looked back up at the sky. Tian could have swore there where four stars in particular that seemed brighter than the others.

_In time, the worlds would be saved by these young heroes who stood beneath the same blaze of stars._

* * *

**Authors Note: **Fun fact; If this were canon, little Tian would have the same voice as little Marceline from 'Adventure Time.'


	17. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Aqua walked down the path. This was where the darkness had lead her. But she wasn't completely sure how far she walked. "It seems like I've been walking for ages," she said to herself in a weary voice. "How long have I been down here?"

Suddenly large black creature rose up from the darkness, towering over the Keyblade Master. Aqua summoned her late Master's Keyblade, ready to fight when needed, when three more of the black creatures appeared. "Maybe," Aqua said slowly, allowing the Keyblade to disappear. "I should fade into the darkness here."

One of the creatures lifted it's fist, to strike her when three light's appeared in the distance. The light's drove themselves through the creature, then the next, and the next until the four of them where defeated. Through the lights Aqua was able to make them out to be her friends Keyblades, Earthshatter, Wayward Wind, and Arioso.

The Keyblades, with their jobs done, took off into the darkness, leaving Aqua with a smile. She caught this pretty quickly. "I guess it's been so long," she said to herself. "I almost forgot how to smile."

She took out her Wayfinder and could remember everything that was important to her. Ven, Terra, Aether, Master Eraqus, Mickey, the people she met on her journey, even little Kairi, and the children from the island.

"There's always a way."

* * *

A few weeks had past since Xehanort was first found in Central Square. While he still couldn't remember how he got there, or where he was from, he was adjusting well, and even became one of Ansem's apprentices. "Hey! Mister Master," Braig said draping himself over Xehanort, much to his annoyance. "Oh c'mon, you don't even know your pal? Please tell me the amnesia was just a sick joke. Boy, this is some cliché."

Xehanort didn't say anything, but tried to brush Braig's hand off. "Hey," Braig said, a gear turning in his head. "You're not… Terra?"

Xehanort gave him a look, as thought to say that name meant nothing to him. "Just gotta check," he removed is arm from Xehanort's shoulder. Gave him a pat on the back. "As if. Well, don't sweat it. I go your back."

Ansem and young Ienzo walked pass the two. They where enjoying sea-salt ice cream, a favorite of Ansem's. Ienzo suddenly pulled to a stop to look over his shoulder at Xehanort and Bragi. Ansem noticed than and looked at the two thoughtfully, suddenly second-guessing his decision regarding Xehanort.

A crash was heard, followed by yelling from Dilan, Aeleus, and Vincent. "My lordship!" one of them yelled.

The three struggled to restrain some kind of creature. While they had it tied up, the creature struggled in it's bonds. "My lord…" Ansem muttered. He turned head to the boy. "Ienzo, go fetch Even and Lucrecia. I would rather not do this, but tell them to bring our strongest sedatives."

Ienzo gave him a nod and ran down the corridors. Followed suite was Ansem's teenaged daugther, Celine. "What's going on?" she asked. Her eyes fell upon the creature Dilan and the other's struggled against, and gasped.

"What the heck is it?" Barig asked, watching his fellow apprentices struggle against the creature.

"Don't just stand there!" Dilan growled, once again reworking the creatures bonds. "Help us!"

"Right, got it."

The creature was stronger than it looked, granted none of them had a chance to get a really good look at it. At long last Ienzo returned with Even and Lucrecia, with a sedative-filled syringe.

"Oh, my…" Lucrecia gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth.

"Try to hold it still," Even ordered.

"Easier said than done," Aeleus argued.

"Just long enough," Ansem said, taking the syringe from Even.

He drove the needed into the creatures neck. It settled down, and was soon knocked out. "Now tell me, what happened," Ansem ordered.

"Heck if we know," Dilan sighed. "We found this thing trying to attack the citizens."

"Children mostly," Vincent added.

"Oh, dear," Lucrecia said, slowly approaching the creature. "It looks like something from a nightmare."

"Could we not refer to this creature as an 'it,'" Even said, undoing the sleeping creatures bonds. "She's a 'her.' Look at her anatomy. She resembles a young girl. Thirteen to fifteen at best guess."

"What?!" Celine shoved Aeleus aside to get a better look. "No…"

Sure enough the creature greatly resembled a human girl. Although darkness radiated from her body, she looked like she may have been human at one point. Celine fell to her knees, allowing tears to slide out of her eyes. "Just as I saw it…" she whispered.

"Was there any other's like her?" Ansem asked.

"None that we could see," said Aeleus.

"Unless we know otherwise, let's keep this as quiet as possible. Xehanort, any thoughts? Xehanort?"

The person in question was leaning against the wall, clutching his head in pain. "You alright, buddy?" asked Braig.

"Fine," the silver haired man said. "Just a headache."

* * *

In the end the creature was strapped down in one of the laboratories until they could figure out what to do otherwise. The drugs should have lasted for a couple of hours, hopefully she would have settled down by then.

Her yellow eyes stared up blankly at the ceiling, she didn't bother to move as she was still a little disoriented.

Footsteps echoed in the room as Xehanort walked up to her. His gold eyes looked down at her yellow eyes. He smiled down at her.

"Hello friend."

* * *

Her green eyes snapped open. The redhead sat up, finding herself in the middle of a maw. Her hand went to the side of her head to scratch, to her surprise, she found a yellow bandana. Where did this come from?

She stood up on shaking legs, nothing looked familiar. Unsure of what else to do, she walked down the dirt path for what seemed like hours. At the end of the road, she came across a large, twisted castle.

Inhaling, the red haired girl opened the large door, and walked in.

* * *

**Authors Note:** And that's the end of that.

I gotta say, I just _love_ the dramatic irony sprinkled throughout this story. Aether and Tian meeting without realizing they're cousins. Aether going into Castle Oblivion without realizing Ven there. I love it!

Okay, so next story, Door to Innocence will be coming out… sometime soon enough. See, I'm working on a spin-off series, that start's the same time as Door to Innocence. So, I'm thinking for a while, I post one chapter of DtI, then during the next update post a chapter of the spin-off until the timeline deviates.

I'll say one thing about the spin-off though. We'll find out what happens to Luna after Jar of Hearts.


End file.
